Banks: Finance

David Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1630W, on banks: Government assistance, what the discount rates and maturities are of the Treasury Bills issued in accordance with paragraph 6.9 of the Debt and Reserves Management Report 2008-09 in order to make finance available to the Bank of England to purchase corporate assets from banks.

Ian Pearson: As announced by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the "DMO financing remit: impact of the financial intervention package: 19 January 2009", the financing to support the asset purchase facility will initially be raised by the DMO through a combination of Treasury bill sales and cash management operations.
	Gradually, the cash management operations will be replaced by funding raised through Treasury bill issuance. The Treasury bills that will be issued to fund the asset purchase facility will be issued consistent with the Debt Management Office's cash management objective as set out in paragraph 6.5 of the "Debt and reserves management report" for 2008-09.

UK Financial Investments: Manpower

Graham Brady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many staff have been employed by UK Financial Investments Ltd in salary bands of  (a) up to £25,000,  (b) £25,000 to £50,000,  (c) £50,000 to £75,000,  (d) £75,000 to £100,000 and  (e) over £100,000;
	(2)  what the estimated cost of remuneration for staff at UK Financial Investment Ltd, including guaranteed bonuses and pension contributions will be in the next 12 months;
	(3)  what the  (a) salary and  (b) total remuneration and title of post is of each of the five highest paid employees of UK Financial Investments Ltd;
	(4)  what consultancy arrangements have been entered into by  (a) his Department and  (b) UK Financial Investments Ltd (UKFI) in connection with UKFI's activities; and what the (i) cost and (ii) nature of work under each contract is;
	(5)  how much the establishment of UK Financial Investments Ltd has cost to date, broken down by category of expenditure.

Ian Pearson: UKFI was established on 3 November 2008 under the Companies Act, with HM Treasury as sole shareholder. The UKFI board is responsible for governing the company's activities and will, by the end of February 2009, recommend to the Treasury a budget and funding plan appropriate to ensure the fulfilment of UKFI's remit.
	The company's annual report and audited accounts will be laid before Parliament.
	Additionally, the chairman and chief executive of the company will, as required, attend meetings of relevant parliamentary committees for scrutiny and answer questions.

Baseball: World Cup 2009

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps  (a) he and  (b) Sport England have taken to ensure that the UK baseball team can compete in the 2009 World Cup; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 26 January 2009
	The issue of the GB National Baseball Team competing in the 2009 World Cup is a matter for UK Sport not Sport England, as Sport England does not lead or fund baseball's elite programme.
	On March 10, 2008 the Secretary of State approved Sport England's outline strategy to focus resources on building the foundations of sporting success through the creation of a world leading community sports system. One of the key outcomes of this system is the development of well-defined, appropriate talent support systems to underpin NGB elite programmes, resulting in more talented performers moving through to world class programmes and success.
	Sport England has recently announced four year funding awards to 46 national governing bodies, including the sports of baseball and softball. Sport England have advised that they will be meeting with the sport imminently to discuss the award, which interventions will be funded and to agree how the sport will contribute to Sport England's strategic outcomes, such as the above, over the next four years.
	UK Sport have advised that its current investment strategy does not provide funding to baseball and has therefore made no estimate of the cost of sending a British baseball team to the final 2008 Olympics qualification event in Taiwan. The sport will not receive world class funding in the future as it is not on the competition programme for London 2012.

Film: Licensing

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what grounds local licensing authorities may  (a) amend the classification of a film classified by the British Board for Film Classification and  (b) withhold a licence for a film to be shown.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a) The only mandatory requirement imposed by the Licensing Act 2003 is the imposition of a condition to be included in the premises licence or club premises certificate requiring the admission of children to films to be restricted in accordance with the film classification given by the BBFC.
	However, licensing authorities must also take into account the guidance issued under the Licensing Act which recommends that they should not duplicate the effort underpinning the BBFC's classification, and only classify films themselves if there are good reasons for doing so.
	The guidance is clear that children should not be allowed access to regulated entertainment 'of a clearly adult or sexual nature' and draws the licensing authorities' attention to the BBFC's classification scheme. The Guidance recommends that:
	(i) where the licensing authority itself is to make recommendations on the admission of children, the venue operator must submit the film to the licensing authority at least 28 days before it is to be shown to allow the licensing authority time to classify the film and ensure that the licence holder adheres to its own age restrictions;
	(ii) the BBFC's classification shall be shown on screen for at least five seconds before the film (or any trailers);
	(iii) where a licensing authority recommends restriction of admission of children, visible notices should be displayed both inside and outside the venue.
	 (b) A licence or certificate for a film to be shown could be revoked or withdrawn on an application for review by an interested party (e.g. local resident or business) or responsible authority (e.g. police or local body with responsibility for child welfare) if the licence or certificate owner breached the mandatory or any additional conditions or acted in a way that contravened the objectives of the Licensing Act.

Playing Fields: Planning Permission

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport with reference to the answer of 21 October 2008,  Official Report, column 244W, on playing fields: planning permission, for what reasons the statistics for 2006-07 were not published in December 2008; and when he expects them to be published.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Sport England have advised that they are still collating the statistics on planning permission affecting playing fields for 2006-07. These statistics are due to be finalised and published in the spring of 2009. The last statistics for planning applications affecting playing fields were published in spring 2008.

Departmental Surveys

Don Foster: To ask the Minister for the Olympics how much her Office's media and communication unit has spent on public surveys since its inception.

Tessa Jowell: The Government Olympic Executive (GOE) commissions an annual poll, to help inform the Government of the general public's views on London 2012 and ensure their views are accounted for in developing plans for London 2012.
	The total expenditure for each of the last three years is:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 (1)— 
			 2007-08 58,855 
			 2008-09 53,475 
			 (1 )Nil return

10 Downing Street: Internet

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many hits the 10 Downing Street website has received since its most recent redesign.

Gordon Brown: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) on 26 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1481-82W. Further information requested is available on the Downing street YouTube channel at:
	http://uk.youtube.com/user/DowningSt.
	A copy of this webpage has been placed in the Library of the House.

Employment Summit

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse of catering at the employment summit held on 12 January 2009 was; and what suppliers were used for catering at the event;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the list of attendees at the employment summit held on 12 January 2009;
	(3)  what the cost to the public purse was of the employment summit held on 12 January 2009.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply
	The Employment Summit was held in London on 12 January. It was led by the Prime Minister and was attended by over 120 key figures from business, trade unions, academia, work-place providers and representative bodies.
	The summit provided an opportunity to discuss how Government and employers could best work in partnership to help people and business through the downturn fairly and get people and business in the best possible shape for the up-turn.
	The list of attendees has been placed in the Library.
	The total cost of the event was £162,076.18, of which the cost of the catering was £5,641.82. The catering was provided by Mustard Catering.

Public Expenditure: Wales

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which of the schemes outlined in the New Opportunities White Paper, Cm. 7533, will entail a Barnett consequential for Wales in (a) each year to 2010-11 and  (b) the period of the next Comprehensive Spending Review; and which have been identified as entailing no such consequential payments.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Spending measures in the New Opportunities White Paper are funded from within departmental budgets and therefore there are no new Barnett consequentials beyond those announced in the comprehensive spending review.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales with reference to the answer of 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 600W, on departmental training, what personal training courses at public expense other Ministers in his Department have undertaken since 1 January 2008.

Wayne David: One Minister in the Wales Office has taken a personal training course at public expense since 1 January 2008:
	Action Learning Set—National School of Government.

Departmental Working Hours

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what the policy of his Department and its agencies is on granting staff time off in lieu for working  (a) in lunch breaks,  (b) in evenings and  (c) at other times outside contracted working hours; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many days off in lieu were granted to staff in  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies for working (i) in lunch breaks and (ii) at other times outside contracted working hours, in the last year for which figures are available.

Paul Murphy: Wales office employees may be given time off in lieu for any overtime taken at the individual line manager's discretion, staff are actively encouraged to take the minimum of half-hour for lunch on a daily basis.
	Time off in lieu is not recorded centrally by the Wales Office. As such the answer cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Mentally Ill

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much was spent on mental health services for prisoners in each  (a) prison and  (b) health authority area in Wales in each of the last five financial years; and how many prisoners received such treatment in each such year.

Paul Murphy: The Welsh Assembly government does not collect centrally how much of the ring-fenced mental health allocation is spent in respect of prisoners in Wales.

Employment

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to undertake an assessment of employment retention assessments as referred to in his Department's White Paper, Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future.

Tony McNulty: As outlined in the White Paper, Raising expectations and increasing support: Reforming welfare for the future, we will work across Government and with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to consider including appropriate references to employment retention assessments in the guidance and code(s) of practice that will accompany the Equality Bill.
	In addition, DWP and the Office for Disability Issues will examine options to deliver a cross-Government employment retention strategy for disabled people as part of the development of the Independent Living Strategy.

Jobcentre Plus: Christchurch

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the former Jobcentre Plus Office at Wick Lane, Christchurch, will be brought back into use; and what the liability of his Department is for empty property rates on the premises.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 19 January 2009
	The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the acting chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Mel Groves. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking when the former Jobcentre Plus office at Wick Lane, Christchurch will be brought back into use and what the liability of his Department is for empty property rates on the premises. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Christchurch Jobcentre Plus was closed on 28 March 2008 as a result of the review of our service delivery plans in the South West region. As a part of the review the new Bournemouth Jobcentre Plus was future proofed to cope with any downturn in the economy and consequent increase in Jobcentre Plus business volumes. There is no intention to bring the Jobcentre Plus office at Wick Lane, Christchurch into use.
	I can confirm the property used in Christchurch by Jobcentre Plus was provided for the Department by Landsecurities Trillium under the PRIME contract, and upon completion of the formal vacation actions, the Department has no further liability (Landsecurities Trillium hold all the leases). The Asset manager for Trillium has confirmed the lease for part of the space has expired and it was "returned" to the landlord in the summer. The remaining part of the space is unoccupied and is currently being marketed. However, they have had no firm interest and the building remains vacant. Trillium is meeting the business rates payable on the property. The Department has had no liability for empty property rates since the property was formally disposed of on 1 July 2008.
	I hope this information is helpful.

Poverty: Children

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1685W, on poverty: children, how many children were living in poverty in Scotland in January  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009.

Kitty Ussher: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him on 19 November 2008,  Official Report, column 563W.
	2006-07 data is still the latest available information.

Take-up Task Force: Manpower

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent staff make up the Take-up Task Force.

Kitty Ussher: The taskforce membership comprises 15 representatives from local authorities and business, public and third sector bodies, and key voluntary organisations. Members are giving their time free of charge and bringing a wealth of existing expertise and research from within their organisations.
	The secretariat for the Take Up Taskforce is provided by one full-time equivalent member of staff who has been seconded to the joint child poverty unit from a local authority. The secretariat also has some analytical support from within the child poverty unit.

M5: Land

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what land the Highways Agency owns between junctions 8 and 9 of the M5; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: Between Junctions 8 and 9 of the M5 the Highways Agency owns land within the highway boundary that was originally purchased to construct the motorway. Generally these boundaries are fenced from the adjoining land.

Roads: Accidents

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people were  (a) injured and  (b) killed in road traffic accidents in the North West in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority area.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of casualties that were  (a) injured and  (b) killed resulting from personal injury road accidents in the North West in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority area are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			  Policy authority area   2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Cumbria Injured 2,641 2,685 2,685 2,421 2,373 
			  Killed 54 57 45 59 45 
			
			 Lancashire Injured 7,413 7,749 7,937 7,908 7,650 
			  Killed 86 58 93 63 55 
			
			 Merseyside Injured 7,406 7,312 7,243 6,426 5,737 
			  Killed 67 62 59 45 30 
			
			 Greater Manchester Injured 14,018 13,449 12,718 11,705 10,609 
			  Killed 126 94 87 90 93 
			
			 Cheshire Injured 6,180 5,915 67 5,481 5,205 4,838 
			  Killed 72 67 78 64 48 
			
			 North West Injured 37,658 37,110 36,064 33,665 31,207 
			  Killed 405 338 362 321 271

Roads: Accidents

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people  (a) died and  (b) were injured in road accidents where the cause of the accident was drink-driving in each of the last five years, broken down by police authority.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport publishes estimates of the number of casualties in drink drive accidents where one or more of the motor vehicle drivers or riders involved was over the legal alcohol limit. These estimates are calculated on a national basis. Police force area estimates are not available. Figures for Great Britain are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of casualties 
			   Killed  Injured 
			 2003 580 18,410 
			 2004 580 16,400 
			 2005 550 14,850 
			 2006 560 13,810 
			 2007(1) 460 14,020 
			 (1) Provisional data. Final figures will be published in August 2008. 
		
	
	The drink-drive estimates are published in an article entitled "Drinking and driving" in "Road Casualties Great Britain—Annual report 2007". Copies of the report have been deposited in the Libraries of the House and it is also available at the following web address:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/accidents/casualtiesgbar/roadcasualtiesgreatbritain20071

Departmental Contracts

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contracts to which his Department is a party continue beyond 1 July 2010.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Department is compiling this information for publication in its departmental report for 2009, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House. The report is published normally in May of the named year.

Departmental Official Residences

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 9 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 727-28W, on departmental official residences, whether the council tax bills for departmental residential accommodation are paid from departmental funds; and what his Department's policy is on responsibility for paying charges for the collection of household waste associated with the property.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Department has a limited number of dwellings used to accommodate key workers. These premises are usually let on formal tenancies which require the occupiers to discharge council tax among the usual occupational outgoings.
	With regard to a policy for the responsibility for paying charges for the collection of household waste, this is yet to be considered. However as an occupier cost it would not be unreasonable for any such charges to be borne by the occupiers.

Floods: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether Lancashire County Council has bid for funding to protect against future flooding.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Environment Agency has received no bids for funding from Lancashire county council this financial year and the council has not applied for funding for the resilience grants pilots.
	Lancashire, as a county, benefited from grant funding from the resilience grants pilot project through the Sunderland point pilot. This was run by Lancaster city council in collaboration with the Environment Agency from 2007 to 2008, with a project with a budget of £110,000. The results of this work are available in a report on the DEFRA website.

Rodents

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to publish the latest English Condition Survey data on rodent presence in domestic dwellings.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My Department have published on its website the latest report on rodent presence in domestic properties as revealed by the English House Condition Survey data for 2002-03 and 2003-04. Key findings are that the occurrences of rats inside and outside properties in these years are not significantly different from those observed in 2001.

Water Supply

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1626W, on water supply, for what reason the original timetable for water companies to prepare their statement of response to the consultation was not met.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The overriding requirement of section 37 of the Water Industry Act 1991 is that a water company must provide a coherent plan that demonstrates how it will ensure a supply and demand balance for water.
	In their statements of response, water companies must respond to the representations they received and say how these have been reflected in their plans and any changes that have been made to the plan in light of the representations.
	The original timetable was extended to allow water companies additional time, which they needed in order to provide the evidence required to demonstrate the impacts any changes made to the plan will have on their subsequent appraisal, and selection, of the preferred water supply and demand options necessary to maintain their statutory water supply duties over the next 25 years.

Departmental Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (James Duddridge) of 11 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1000W, on departmental public relations, which areas of work and projects the external public relations firm worked on; and for what reasons such work was not conducted in-house.

Kevan Jones: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence gave on 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1673W.

Tristar Aircraft

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2008,  Official Report, column 554W, on TriStar aircraft, when the process of fitting glass cockpits to the RAF TriStar fleet is due to commence.

Quentin Davies: The trial installation on the first aircraft is already under way and is due to be completed in May 2009.

Bosnia: Politics and Government

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the terms of the Odzak agreement signed on 8 November 2008 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

David Miliband: The Odzak agreement sends a positive signal and demonstrates that common ground can be found between the political parties. The agreement covers important issues, including constitutional reform and some of the requirements for closure of the Office of the High Representative.
	We urge all political leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina to build a wider consensus which will lead to concrete follow up to the agreement.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the Answer of 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1794W, on departmental training, what personal training courses at public expense other Ministers in his Department have undertaken since 1 January 2008.

Gillian Merron: As well as the training received by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary detailed in my reply of 26 November 2008,  Official Report, column 1794W, from January to July 2008, my hon. Friend the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, received training in the Spanish language.
	No personal training courses have been undertaken by the other Ministers in this Department since 1 January 2008.

India: Human Rights

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs with reference to the Answer of 27 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 532-3W, whether the next EU-India Human Rights Dialogue will take place before the end of 2008; and what subjects are on the agenda for the next dialogue.

Bill Rammell: We had hoped the EU/India Human Rights Dialogue would take place before the end of 2008. We now understand that it is due to take place in 2009, although the date has not yet been finalised by the EU presidency and the Indian government.
	We expect religious freedom and minority rights in India, including the recent attacks in Orissa state, to be included on the agenda.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings Ministers in his Department have had at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with groups of British Muslims on events in Gaza since 27 December 2008; and what the names were of the individuals who attended each meeting.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 27 January 2009
	Since 27 December 2008 the following meetings have been held:
	On 6 January 2009 my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (PUSS) at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and I met with representatives and individuals from a number of organisations including the Quilliam Foundation, Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum, the Sufi Muslim Council, the Al Khoei Foundation, the UK Ismaili Council and the Ithna Asheri Khoja Shia World Federation.
	On 8 January 2009 we met with members of the Muslim Women's Advisory Group.
	On 12 January 2009 my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and Communities Secretary met with representatives and individuals from a number of organisations including the Quilliam Foundation, Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum, the City Circle, British Muslims for a Secular Democracy, the Sufi Muslim Council, the Al Khoei Foundation, the UK Ismaili Council and the Ithna Asheri Khoja Shia World Federation.
	On 13 January 2009 my hon. Friend the PUSS at DCLG and I met with members of the Young Muslims Advisory Group.

Palestinians: Detainees

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Israeli government on the detention without trial of elected members of the Palestinian Parliament.

Bill Rammell: We continue to restate our call for all elected Palestinian Legislative Council members detained by Israel to be either released or subject to due legal process.

Sri Lanka: Press Freedom

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Sri Lankan government on the development of independent human rights reporting in Sri Lanka.

Bill Rammell: In March 2008, my noble Friend, the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, made clear at the UN Human Rights Council UK support for a stronger mandate and presence for the UN human rights mission in Sri Lanka directly with the Sri Lankan Government. He also raised this during his visit to Sri Lanka in July 2008. We continue to emphasise the need for independent human rights reporting in our regular contacts with the Sri Lankan Government.

Departmental Travel

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 882W, on departmental travel, how much was spent by his Department's  (a) agencies and  (b) executive non-departmental public bodies on (i) staff travel within the UK and (ii) international staff travel in the last 12 months.

Shaun Woodward: Northern Ireland Office (NIO) agencies spent £1,772,000 in the last 12 months on staff travel. Of this total £5,000 has been identified as international travel.
	More than £1,400,000 of this expenditure related to the Northern Ireland Prison Service, their main costs in this area came from training days and staff transfers:
	Almost 9,000 training places were filled by staff at the Prison Service college for which they could reclaim travel expenses. The training college is based in Millisle which is a round trip of 182 and 78 miles respectively from the two main establishments which are Magilligan and Maghaberry. The other operational establishments are Hydebank Wood based in Bangor and PECCS which is also based in Maghaberry;
	Excess fares are payable to staff that have been transferred to an establishment which is further from their home address than the one from which they are being transferred, this is payable for a three year period if the official remains in their new establishment.
	Information for the Northern Ireland Office's executive non-departmental public bodies is an operational matter for each of the bodies, who operate independently of Government. I would encourage the hon. Member to write to the respective chief executives. Details of the NIO's non-departmental public bodies can be found in the NIO 2008 Departmental Report:
	http://www.nio.gov.uk/northern_ireland_office_departmental _ report_2008.pdf.

Fire Services: Resignations

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons five officers resigned from the proposed dedicated road rescue team of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service to be established on 1 February 2009.

Paul Goggins: This is a devolved matter which is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

Police: Recruitment

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2009, on police recruitment in Northern Ireland, whether the 50/50 recruitment policy will be ended when the 30 per cent. Roman Catholic recruitment figure is reached if that takes place before 2011.

Paul Goggins: We are committed to reaching 30 per cent. Catholic composition within the PSNI regulars. When this target is reached the temporary provisions will lapse.

Correspondence

Grant Shapps: To ask the Leader of the House what her Office's average response time to a letter received from  (a) an hon. Member and  (b) a member of the public was in each of the last three years.

Chris Bryant: The information requested is not available in precisely the form requested.
	However, we aim to respond to correspondence from hon. Members and Peers within 15 working days. In 2008, the Leader's Office answered 94 per cent. of correspondence from hon. Members and Peers within deadline. In 2007 this was 94 per cent. and in 2006, 95 per cent.
	The Office aims to respond to correspondence from members of the public within 20 working days. In 2008, the Leader's Office answered 96 per cent. of correspondence from members of the public within deadline. In 2007 this was 90 per cent. and in 2006, 95 per cent.

Corporate Communications

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Selby of 6 February 2007,  Official Report, column 767W, on public relations, if he will place in the Library a copy of the corporate communications strategy provided by the firm Corporate Communications.

Michael Foster: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Mr. Mitchell) on 14 January 2009,  Official Report, column 832W.

Sri Lanka: Internally Displaced Persons

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 30-31WS, on Sri Lanka, when he expects a humanitarian expert from his Department to visit Sri Lanka to assess the distribution of aid to assist internally displaced persons in northern Sri Lanka; and when he expects to publish the expert's report.

Michael Foster: An humanitarian assessment mission will visit Sri Lanka from 16-26 February. The findings of the report will subsequently be placed in the Library of the House.

Cabinet

Greg Hands: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the costs of policing provided for the Cabinet meeting in Liverpool on 8 January 2009;
	(2)  how much was spent from public funds on  (a) lunch and  (b) refreshments for those attending the Cabinet meeting held in Liverpool on 8 January 2009;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of holding the meeting of the Cabinet in Leeds on 28 November 2008;
	(4)  how much was spent on  (a) lunch and  (b) refreshments for those attending the Cabinet meeting held in Leeds on 28 November 2008;
	(5)  how much was spent on police protection for the Cabinet meeting held in Leeds on 28 November 2008;
	(6)  what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of holding the meeting of the Cabinet in Liverpool on 8 January 2009.

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what the additional security cost has been for each Cabinet meeting held outside 10 Downing Street since January 2008.

Gordon Brown: The visit of the Cabinet to Leeds on 28 November was linked with a number of ministerial visits across the region; there was a public engagement event with around 220 people which was followed by a formal Cabinet meeting. There are no separate figures for the Cabinet meeting. The cost of the public engagement event and the Cabinet meeting was approximately £57,190, excluding VAT. The figure includes the cost of hiring the venue, catering, associated security and search equipment, delegate management and rail travel for both staff and Ministers. In addition, Departments and agencies will have incurred costs in terms of staff time and other support. The cost of any security provided by the police is a matter for the relevant police force. The cost of the public engagement event and Cabinet in Liverpool on 8 January will be published once figures are available.
	In addition, I have placed in the Library of the House the "Response to Cabinet public engagement event Leeds 2008".

Sri Lanka

Keith Simpson: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 30-31WS, on Sri Lanka, if he will place in the Library a copy of his letter to President Rajapakse.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister what steps he has taken to promote a ceasefire in Sri Lanka since 14 January; what recent discussions he has had with the  (a) German Chancellor and  (b) French President on Sri Lanka; and what recent correspondence he has had with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Members to the written statement made by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on 21 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 30-31WS. I have written to President Rajapakse to urge him to increase efforts in relation to the provision of humanitarian assistance; to take action against human rights abuses and set out the need for a political solution. It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all correspondence and discussions with foreign Governments.
	I discussed a range of issues with Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy and I have also asked my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to work closely with his French and German counterparts on this matter.

Departmental Training

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice with reference to the answer of 30 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1299W, on departmental training, what personal training courses at public expense other Ministers in his Department have undertaken since 1 January 2008.

Michael Wills: Ministers in the Ministry of Justice have attended six Action Learning Set training courses at public expense since 1 January 2008.

Employment Tribunals Service: Damages

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times employment tribunals awarded costs to a successful applicant in each of the last five years; and what the average award was over that period.

Bridget Prentice: The following table details the number of claimants, who in a successful claim, were awarded costs and the average sum awarded per case for each of the last five years. The information relates only to costs awarded and does not include awards of compensation where a claim has been successful. In addition, the information does not include preparation time orders, in respect of time spent by a party carrying out preparatory work directly relating to the proceedings or conduct of the hearing, made as a consequence of, for example, the postponement of a hearing, or wasted cost orders made against a representative. These details are not available in current management information systems and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	Costs awarded for 2007-08 are not yet available as the data is being validated before publication.
	
		
			  Costs 
			   Number of applicants awarded  Average award (£) 
			 2006-07 166 2,079 
			 2005-06 148 2,256 
			 2004-05 281 1,828 
			 2003-04 332 1,859 
			 2002-03 307 1,524

Legal Services Ombudsman

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Legal Services Ombudsman plans to respond to the application of Mrs. Yvonne Randles of Birkenhead made in January 2006.

Jack Straw: The Legal Services Ombudsman (LSO) is independent of Government and therefore it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.
	However as the sponsoring department, this particular case has been brought to the attention of the Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman.

Magistrates Courts: Welsh Language

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1126W, on magistrates courts: Welsh language, what the  (a) estimated cost,  (b) expected completion date and  (c) start date for the bilingual version of the Libra IT system is; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1126W, on magistrates courts: Welsh language, how much his Department has spent  (a) in total and  (b) in each month on translating summonses into Welsh since the Libra IT system became operational; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1126W, on magistrates courts: Welsh language, how many requests there have been for summonses to be translated into Welsh  (a) in total and  (b) each month since the Libra IT system became operational, broken down by the smallest geographical area for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what the  (a) estimated (i) cost and (ii) completion date at the project outset,  (b) outturn cost and  (c) completion date of the Libra IT system was; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The estimated cost of the Libra bilingual solution is £4 million. Final contractual papers are yet to be signed so precise figures are not available at this point. This figure represents application development costs and does not include support costs which are on-going for the life of the application.
	The expected completion and start date for the bilingual version of the Libra IT system is September 2009.
	Since the Libra IT system became operational, the Department has spent £425 in total on translating summonses into Welsh. Of this, £80 was spent in August 2008; £165 in December 2008 and £180 in January 2009.
	Since the Libra IT system became operational, there have been 21 requests in total for summonses to be translated into Welsh. The following table shows a breakdown of monthly requests by the smallest geographical area.
	At the project outset (in December 1998), the Libra IT system was
	(i) estimated to (i) cost £184 million and (ii) to complete rollout in July 2001;
	(ii) The outturn cost of the project is £444 million;
	(iii) The date of completion of rollout was 9 December 2008.
	
		
			  Cost of translation of Libra documents into Welsh 
			  Month  Cost (£) 
			 August 2008 80.00 
			 December 2008 165.00 
			 January 2009 180.00 
			 Total 425.00 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of requests by smallest geographical area 
			  Requests  Mid and  West Wales  North Wales  South Wales 
			 August 2008 — — 1 
			 September 2008 — — — 
			 October 2008 — — — 
			 November 2008 — — — 
			 December 2008 4 4 — 
			 January 2009 5 6 1 
			 Total 9 10 2

Witnesses

John Howell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1345-6W, what means are used to assess the effectiveness of witness intermediaries.

Maria Eagle: The Intermediary Special Measure was piloted in six pathfinder areas and extended nationally after an independent evaluation. The evaluation report indicated that feedback from witnesses and carers was uniformly enthusiastic. Support for intermediaries was almost unanimous across the judiciary and among other criminal justice personnel involved in the pathfinder cases. A summary of the evaluation report is available at:
	http://www.iustice.gov.uk/publications/research120607a.htm
	The full report is available at:
	http://lexiconlimited.co.uk/PDF%20files/Intermediaries _study_report.pdf
	Our intention is that from April 2009 those who commission intermediaries—the police, the CPS and defence—will have the opportunity to provide feedback. This information will be reported to the intermediary governance board on a regular basis and be used to evaluate the service provided by individual intermediaries.

Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust: Hospital Beds

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds there were in the Mid Essex Hospital Trust area in  (a) May 1997 and  (b) the latest date for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Information is not available in the format requested. Information on beds data is collected annually via the KH03 return collecting the total available bed-days by trust. The following numbers are the calculated average daily bed number at the Mid Essex Hospital Trust.
	1997-98: 911 beds (open overnight and day only beds)
	2007-08: 786 beds (open overnight and day only beds)

Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust: Hospital Beds

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what proportion of beds in the Mid Essex Hospital Trust area were in mixed sex wards in  (a) 1997 and  (b) the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many beds in the Mid Essex Hospital Trust area were in mixed sex wards in  (a) May 1997 and  (b) the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: Information about the number/proportion of beds that are in mixed sex wards is not collected centrally. However, the Healthcare Commission's annual national in-patient survey does provide data relating to mixed sex accommodation. For Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, the survey shows that in 2007(1), 36.8 per cent. of respondents reported sharing their sleeping area with a patient of the opposite sex upon first admission to the hospital.
	Our guidance to the national health service has always required single sex accommodation rather than single sex wards. Even within a mixed ward, good single sex accommodation can be achieved by using single rooms or single sex bays and toilet facilities.
	On 28 January 2009, the Department announced a six-month programme to eliminate mixed sex accommodation, this includes a £100 million 'Privacy and Dignity Fund' to support local improvements and tough financial penalties from 2010-11 for those trusts that do not deliver.
	(1) Source:
	Healthcare Commission National Inpatient Survey, published May 2008.

Patient Choice Schemes

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the merits of reducing the scope of Choose and Book to operate only as an electronic booking service.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department has not considered and has no plans to reduce the scope of choose and book.
	The choose and book system has been designed to support patients and general practitioners. It is a big step towards giving patients greater involvement in the decisions about their treatment and is a tool to support patient choice—helping them shape for themselves the services that are on offer. It also helps general practitioners (GPs) navigate through the increasing array of choices that national health service patients can make.
	"The NHS Constitution" published on the 21 January 2009, gives patients the right to make choices about their NHS care and to information to support these choices. A copy has already been placed in the Library. Primary care trusts must ensure that choices are available and the necessary systems are in place to offer and support choice and to enable booked appointments to be made.

Pharmacy

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of medicine use reviews to meet local health priorities.

Phil Hope: There is provision within the Pharmaceutical Services (Advanced and Enhanced Services)(England) Directions 2005 to allow primary care trusts to notify pharmacists in their area of the categories of patients who would benefit from the provision of Medicines Use Review (MUR) services. The pharmacist should consider this in determining who to offer the service to.
	Further, the White Paper 'Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths—delivering the future' makes clear we are concerned that the provision of MUR services is currently geared to rewarding the volume of MURs undertaken. We believe it is necessary for MUR services to be prioritised to meet health needs. NHS Employers (NHSE) and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) have discussed a mechanism for delivering this objective and ensuring funding rewards health outcomes. NHSE and PSNC have now presented their proposals to the Department, which are being considered.

Teenage Pregnancy

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how he plans to assess the value for money of the £26 million allocated to primary care trusts for programmes to reduce teenage pregnancies;
	(2)  how the £26 million allocated to primary care trusts (PCTs) for programmes to reduce teenage pregnancies has been spent by each PCT; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the expenditure.

Dawn Primarolo: A total of £26.8 million has been allocated this year to strategic health authorities (SHAs) and primary care trusts (PCTs) to improve women's knowledge of, and access to the full range of contraception, to help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and abortions.
	It is for SHAs and PCTs to determine how to use this funding most effectively to meet the needs of their local populations. However, Departmental officials are working with SHAs to provide advice and spread good practice. Priority areas include encouraging innovation and ensuring equitable access to all methods of contraception including long acting reversible (LARC) methods. Guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) highlighted that the National Health Service could save around £100 million through reducing unintended pregnancies if women switched to LARC.
	The South West Public Health Observatory are developing a balanced score card for sexual health which will monitor a range of indicators at PCT, SHA and national level. This will be available during 2009 and the first phase will focus on outcomes for young people.

Departmental Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will make it his policy that temporary and permanent employees of his Department employed at the same grade receive the same hourly rate of pay.

Patrick McFadden: I refer the hon. Member to answer given on 14 January 2009,  Official Report, column 757W.

Furniture: Safety

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many items of unsafe furniture have been seized by scambuster teams since 2005.

Gareth Thomas: Since 2005 Trading Standards scambuster teams have been involved in two operations involving unsafe furniture. To date, the majority of the scambuster investigations have been in relation to doorstep selling and rogue traders providing home improvement products.
	The north-east team seized 161 pieces of furniture in a warehouse raid. After testing, all 161 items were found to be in compliance with the Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1998.
	The scambuster team covering the south-east, region investigated a rogue trader selling furniture door to door. Seven of the nine items of furniture seized failed to comply with the regulations.

Mining: Bangladesh

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what support his Department is providing to the proposal by the UK company Global Coal Management Resources plc for an opencast mine at Phulbari in Bangladesh.

Gareth Thomas: Global Coal Management Resources Plc is in contact with officials within the British high commission, Dhaka with respect to their proposed project in Bangladesh. As a UK company they are entitled to support. This support ensures that the company are aware of legislative issues that may have implications for their business in Bangladesh. Officials will remain in contact with the company and the Government of Bangladesh and respond to specific requests for assistance in accordance with Government policy.

Newspapers: Regulation

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform whether  (a) he and (b) the Office of Fair Trading plans to make an assessment of the implications for the regulatory matters for which each is responsible of the change in ownership of the London Evening Standard.

Gareth Thomas: We understand the Office of Fair Trading does not propose to examine this transaction on competition grounds. My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to issue an intervention notice to require an investigation on public interest grounds. There is no indication that the purchase may be expected to result in inaccurate presentation of news or a loss plurality of views in newspapers.

Regional Development Agencies: Trade Unions

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much funding each of the regional development agencies has given to trades union bodies in the last 12 months; and what the purpose of such funding was.

Patrick McFadden: RDAs fund initiatives through a variety of third party organisations to deliver projects to increase economic growth, such as on workforce development and economic inclusion. The specific focus and priorities of such activities are set out in each region's Regional Economic Strategy.
	The following funding has been provided by RDAs to trade unions as requested in the question.
	
		
			  RDA  Trade union  Purpose  Funding (£000) 
			 AWM National Farmer's Union Grant to support Blue Tongue awareness literature. 9 
			  National Farmer's Union Grant to support counselling service to farming communities following the rural floods. 25 
			  Unity Grant to support return to work assistance for workers within the ceramics industry. 150 
			  Union Learn Grant to refurbish and equip 20 new learning centres managed by trade unions within employers to provide access to training. 82 
			 Total   266 
			 
			 EEDA National Farmer's Union Contribution towards 'Blue Tongue Information Day.' 1 
			  National Farmer's Union Contribution to sustainable future for sugar beet producers. 35 
			 Total   36 
			 EMDA National Farmer's Union Marketing support to raise awareness of the Blue Tongue disease across the farming community. 3 
			  National Farmer's Union Grant payment to the NFU for the Joint Venture Farming Group. The main remit of the group being to assist with knowledge transfer between farms. 12 
			  Trade Union Congress To build management skills in the workplace by using the specialised knowledge of trade unions in order to target organisations in which to offer assistance. 114 
			  Trade Union Congress Grant funding to help skilled migrant workers achieve their potential by utilising existing skills and offering learning opportunities to gain a recognised qualification. 47 
			 Total   176 
			 
			 LDA Trade Union Congress Diversity Works for London project. The funding enabled the TUC to train union reps and members on the importance and benefits of diversity in the workplace. 86 
			  Public and Commercial Services Union To cover the cost of legal advice provided to a member of LDA staff as part of Compromise Agreement negotiations. 0.3 
			 Total   86.3 
			 
			 NWDA National Farmer's Union Sponsorship of Blue Tongue Awareness Campaign. 3 
			  Trade Union Congress Grant funding for delivery of skills strategy. 44 
			  Trade Union Congress Promotion of Liverpool Capital of Culture website to union members. 2 
			  Trade Union Congress Funding of policy officer post to implement the delivery of Regional Economic Strategy objectives relating to skills and workforce development. 47 
			 Total   96 
			 
			 ONE Trade Union Congress Funding in connection with the 'Working Together' project to help local companies raise their profile. 101 
			 Total   101 
			 
			 SEEDA National Farmer's Union South East Blue Tongue Outbreak in the South East. SEEDA provided a grant to support the joint NFU Campaign to promote and assist the NFU raise awareness for Farmers for take up of the BTV8 vaccine to protect livestock in the South East. 14 
			  National Farmer's Union Bio-security Co-ordinator: A joint funding venture for the Industry Disease co-ordinator, for raising, prevention of disease control for Land Based business in South East. 2 
			  National Farmer's Union To promote a Phase 2 campaign against a new virus in the South East and to raise awareness for farmers in the South East continuing to March 2009. 4 
			 Total   20 
			 
			 SWRDA South West TUC Learning works for all—A project to increase productivity and performance especially through raising skills levels, encouraging innovation and promoting learning to employees. 447 
			  South West TUC Environmental Driver Implementation Plan—Green South West workplace projects. 49 
			  TUC (Cornwall Union Learning Services) TUC Learning Services—Cornwall. To generate more Union Learning Representatives and work-based learners. 16 
			  National Farmer's Union Modernising Rural Delivery: Uplands delivery. Funding for South West Task Force conference. The conference was hosted by the South West Uplands Task Force, established with the support of the National Farmers Union and the Countryside Landowners Association. 5 
			 Total   517 
			 
			 YF National Farmer's Union Funding for the production and distribution of a mail shot by NFU to create awareness of the Blue Tongue "Don't hesitate. Vaccinate!" campaign 3 
			  Yorkshire and Humber TUC To support the National Learning at Work Day and National Adult Learners Week with a principal aim of promoting training opportunities in the workplace and identifying learning and training needs of employees. 30 
			  Yorkshire and Humber TUC To support the programme English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL). This funding allowed 300 beneficiaries to take the ESOL course. 302 
			  Yorkshire and Humber TUC To support Union Learn events and a Policy Officer working for the Yorkshire and Humber TUC delivering the Regional Economic Strategy and promoting the work of RDAs among the regional union network. 45 
			 Total   380

Russia

Mark Hoban: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 955W, on official visits: Russia, when he plans to place a list of the Secretary of State's engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008 in the Library.

Gareth Thomas: A copy of the list of my noble Friend the Secretary of State's engagements during his visit to Russia in October 2008 was placed in the Libraries of the House on 26 January 2009.

Unfair Practices: Loans

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps the Government is taking to protect consumers from unsolicited mail offering loans without clearly stating the effective rate of interest applied to the loan.

Gareth Thomas: The Government have taken steps to protect consumers from misleading loan advertisements. In October 2004 the new Consumer Credit (Advertisements) Regulations came into force. These increase consistency and transparency, allowing consumers to compare financial products with confidence. Lenders are now required to provide consumers with clear information when advertising loans. Information relating to the cost of the loan must be displayed with equal prominence to other key mandatory information, ensuring consumers are not misled over additional charges or costs. In particular, any credit advertisement for a specific loan product must include a typical APR (Annual Percentage Rate of Charge).

Video Games: Canada

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what progress has been made in investigating whether Canadian subsidies to the video games industry breach World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules; and when the Government expects to lodge a formal complaint with the WTO.

Gareth Thomas: holding answer 12 January 2009
	 BERR officials have discussed this issue with the European Commission on several occasions last year, as WTO disputes are a matter of Community competence.
	No disciplines on subsidies exist under the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, and Canada has not made any specific market access commitments with regard to computer games services.
	On the basis of information examined to date, the Government currently share the Commission's analysis that there therefore appears to be little or no scope to bring a complaint to the WTO in relation to any subsidies Canada may be granting to video games producers established in Canada.
	However, we have passed to the Commission additional details recently received from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) in response to earlier questions from the Commission.

Caravans: Ministerial Responsibility

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1133W, on caravans, which Minister in her Department is responsible for  (a) mobile caravans and  (b) Travellers.

Iain Wright: I am the Minister responsible for housing and planning policies within the Department relating to mobile caravans and Travellers.

CMPi

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 18 March 2008,  Official Report, column 961W, on CMPi, what payments have been made since February 2008; and for what purpose payments were made to CMPi from 2007-08 to date.

Sadiq Khan: The following table sets out payments made by the Department and its agencies to CMPi since 1 March 2008.
	
		
			   £ 
			 Communities and Local Government (Central) 58,239 
			 Agencies 28,482 
		
	
	Payments were made for various reasons including recruitment advertising, publications, exhibition stands at conferences and to cover conference delegation fees.

Council Tax: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 15 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1315W, on council tax: valuation, whether the observations on consequentials referred to were made in writing.

John Healey: No.

Departmental Procurement

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 302-3W, on departmental procurement, what the breakdown is of the associated costs of Euro RSCG London Ltd in relation to the fire campaign. [Official Report, 10 February 2009, Vol. 487, c. 13MC.]

Sadiq Khan: The breakdown of the costs paid to Euro RSCG London Ltd (and associated companies) in relation to the fire campaign in 2007-08 is as follows:
	
		
			  Breakdown  £ 
			  Euro RSCG 4D Digital  
			 Transmission costs for Fire Kills national advertising and usage fee for advertisements. 166,468 
			   
			 Press narrative for research carried out for Fire Kills advertising 5,507 
			 Radio narrative for research carried out for Fire Kills advertising 10,234 
			 Creative for campaign support materials 26,078 
			 Agency commission on Media Advertising 145,113 
			 TV production costs for Fire Kills advertising 188,845 
			   
			  Euro RSCG London Ltd 370,269

Eco-Towns

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1265-6W, on eco-towns, which external companies were engaged to perform communications work using the £385,200 referred to; and what the purpose of each such contract was.

Iain Wright: We commissioned a number of agencies through the Central Office of Information (COI) to support us on the communications aspect of the eco-towns programme. The names of the companies involved and their role is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Agency  Role 
			 Four Public relations and raising awareness about the eco-towns programme and consultation process in the regional media. 
			 M-is Organising and managing the logistics for a series of consultation 'roadshow' events in and around the potential eco-town locations. 
			 COI Advertorials in respect of first stage consultation procurement fees for digital work 
		
	
	We also commissioned further agencies through our own framework contract and the details of these are set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Agency  Role 
			 Red House Lane Graphic design and artwork for branding, advertorials and posters. 
			 Andrew Irving Associates Eco-towns questionnaire for online You Gov omnibus survey. 
			 Cragg Ross Dawson Qualitative research to explore national and local attitudes to the proposals for eco-towns

Government Offices for the Regions: Expenditure

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which programme budgets were administered by the Government offices for the regions in 2007-08, broken down by sponsoring Department; and what the amount of each was.

Sadiq Khan: The Government offices do not undertake an annual exercise to collect information on the programme budgets administered on behalf of sponsor Departments. No information is therefore available for 2007-08.
	The most recent year in which information on programme budgets were collected was in 2006-07 when the figures were as follows:
	
		
			  Sponsor Department  Programme funding  (£) 
			 Department for Transport 2,389,000,000 
			 Communities and Local Government 2,180,046,041 
			 Department for Works and Pensions 1,150,845,613 
			 Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 947,214,000 
			 Department for Education and Skills 811,379,686 
			 Home Office 233,313,878 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 16,155,346 
			 Total 7,727,954,564

Government Offices for the Regions: Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 23 October 2008,  Official Report, column 489W, on Government Office for the Regions: finance, for what reason the Government Office Network has stopped retaining records of the total programme expenditure of the Government Offices for the Regions; and which bodies audit the overall expenditure of the individual Government Offices.

Sadiq Khan: The Government office network does not undertake an annual exercise to review departmental programme expenditure that passes through the GOs since all programme budgets administered by the Government offices are the responsibility of the Secretaries of State for the relevant sponsor Departments. Departments can delegate authority to the regional directors, though all expenditure incurred is recorded in the accounts of the Department concerned.
	The Government offices are audited by the Government office audit team and the National Audit Office, although programme expenditure is audited by sponsor Department audit teams.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 October 2008,  Official Report, column 952W, on home information packs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the report of the working group.

Iain Wright: I will place a copy in the Library of the House.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 321W, on home information packs, if she will place in the Library a copy of the proposals submitted to her by the Stakeholder Panel on Home Buying and Selling.

Iain Wright: No formal paper was submitted by the Stakeholder Panel on Home Buying and Selling. Following discussions at the panel in November, it became apparent that further work was needed. That is why my right hon. Friend, the Minister for Housing and Planning announced, on 8 December, the establishment of a working group to consider the issue of condition information.

Homes and Communities Agency

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans the Homes and Communities Agency has to buy land.

Margaret Beckett: The new Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which was established on 1 December 2008, is the Government's key delivery partner in relation to housing and regeneration. It has the ability to acquire land in support of its statutory objects and in accordance with priorities established through its corporate planning process. HCA can acquire land for a range of purposes, for example to unlock sites in fragmented ownership or to provide access enabling development to proceed.
	In addition, the HCA is responsible for the management of the programme for the delivery of more and better homes on surplus public sector land, with a target of 200,000 homes by 2016, of which the aspiration is that up to 50 per cent. of homes delivered will be affordable homes. The HCA is working closely with landowning Departments to ensure that land is coming forward.
	In the current market, however, we are keeping all options under constant review and both my Department and the HCA are actively engaged in discussions with the industry.

Housing

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what planned capital expenditure on housing in future years by her Department and its agencies she is bringing forward.

Margaret Beckett: On 2 September 2008 we announced a £1 billion market rescue package to increase confidence, stability and fairness in the housing market. On 24 November we brought forward additional capital spending as part of the 2008 pre-Budget report fiscal stimulus. Considering together the September housing announcement and the pre-Budget report, we are making £330 million, £1,195 million and £55 million of capital available for expenditure on housing in years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively. A further £100 million is being brought forward for regeneration programmes in 2008-10. In addition, £95 million has been made available for 2009-10 and 2010-11 to support reforms to Support for Mortgage Interest announced in the September 2008 housing package.
	This total package of £1,775 million includes the additional flexibility offered by the Government, at the pre-Budget report, to the Regional development agencies to bring forward £100 million of capital expenditure from financial year 2010-11 to 2009-10. Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform are currently working closely with the regional development agencies to take this forward.
	It also takes account of the flexibility offered by the Government to local authorities in England to bring forward up to £175 million of planned major housing repairs expenditure from 2010-11 to 2009-10. Communities and Local Government will invite local authorities in England to bring forward up to this amount to enable councils to invest in a way which will maximise investment in the housing stock in 2009-10.

Housing: EC Action

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to Lord Berkley of 13 January,  Official Report, House of Lords, column WA132, what assessment she has made of the likely effects on  (a) churches and  (b) listed buildings of implementing the EU proposal that member states will no longer be able to provide incentives for the construction or renovation of buildings which do not comply with minimum energy performance requirements.

Iain Wright: We are currently considering the European Union's proposal for the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and have yet to carry out the impact assessment.

Housing: Students

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how student halls of residence are treated for  (a) planning policy purposes and  (b) valuation purposes.

Iain Wright: The way in which student halls of residence are treated for planning policy purposes and valuation purposes differs. Under the planning system, uses of land and buildings are categorised through reference to the Town and Country (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended). It is for local planning authorities to determine, in the first instance, depending on the individual circumstances of each case, whether student halls of residence would fall under one of the residential use classes or would be considered 'sui generis' (i.e. does not fit into any of the specified use classes).
	For valuation purposes, student halls of residence are treated as domestic property, and subject to council tax bandings. Where they form part of the same hereditament as a college, they will be treated as composite property. The value of the domestic element of a composite is apportioned out of the value of the whole. Though they are banded, they are an exempt class under Class M of The Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992 (SI No 558), and no council tax is payable.

Housing: Students

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 28 October 2008,  Official Report, column 960W, on housing: students, what assessment she has made of the extent to which new additional student accommodation in university towns releases housing stock for non-student use; and if she will make it her policy to count such new accommodation towards regional spatial strategy building targets.

Iain Wright: Information is not collected centrally on the extent to which new additional student accommodation in university towns releases housing stock for non-student use.
	As mentioned in my earlier answer, communal establishments, such as student accommodation, are not included in the regional spatial strategy housing targets. This is because they are not available for occupation on the open market and often provide only temporary accommodation during term time.

Interreg Programme

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1147W, on the Interreg Programme, what projects are being considered under the Interreg  (a) IVA and  (b) IVB programmes which relate to the United Kingdom.

Sadiq Khan: This information is not held centrally by my Department and it could not be provided without disproportionate cost.

Interreg Programme

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar of 29 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1147W, on the Interreg Programme, what the  (a) purpose and  (b) remit is of each of the five Interreg IVC programmes.

Sadiq Khan: The information on each of the five projects is as follows:
	 1. Power
	The lead partner is South East England Development Agency. The project will explore ways to move towards a low carbon economy at regional level, in particular re-formulating regional development strategies and policy instruments and identifying effective forms of sub-regional action which also contribute to regional competitiveness. The seven participating regions will work towards achieving long-term policy objectives around low carbon by finding the best way forward.
	 2. SEE
	The lead partner is Design Wales. The project will share information on policies that have been successful in using design to boost innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability or economic development. The project has a partnership of 11 organisations, which targets small and medium enterprises and their lack of resources for implementing design practice and innovation into their business.
	 3. PIMMS Transfer
	The lead partner is the London borough of Bromley. The project builds on the 'transfer methodology' developed under Interreg IIIC, which identified the critical success factors behind best practice case studies in mobility management. It aims to stimulate modal shift towards more sustainable forms of transport by increasing the implementation of high quality mobility management techniques and policies in European regions and to extend, deepen and promote best practice in mobility management. The partnership is composed of 15 organisations from 15 countries.
	 4. GRaBS
	The lead partner is the Town and Country Planning Association. The Green and Blue Space Adaptation for Urban Areas and Eco Towns project aims to improve the regional decision and policy making process in relation to the planning and development of new and existing urban areas in nine member states in the context of climate change. It comprises 14 partners.
	 5. RAPIDE
	The lead partner is the South West Regional Development Agency. The project deals with the role of the public sector in stimulating innovation in regions, in particular helping mainly small businesses bring innovative products to market more quickly. By focusing on good practices already identified in partner regions, it aims to develop robust, workable action plans that each region will implement. The project includes 13 partners from 11 member states.

Lloyds TSB

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the meeting held by the Minister for the South West with the Chairman of Lloyds TSB on 14 January 2009.

Sadiq Khan: holding answer 27 January 2009
	A copy of the minutes has been deposited in the Library.

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued on the designation of billing authorities in areas with two executive tiers of local government.

John Healey: Section 1 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 defines a billing authority as a district or London borough council, the Common Council or the Council of the Isles of Scilly. That definition is expanded by section 19 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 and regulation 7 of The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Finance) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/3022) ("the Finance Regulations") to include county councils to which the functions of district councils have been transferred. The Regulations also provide that, in the period to 1 April 2009, for those two tier areas undergoing restructuring on that date, the preparing or shadow council (i.e. the council responsible for implementing restructuring) will be the billing authority for the reorganised area in relation to 2009-10.

Local Government: Billing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1659W, on local government: billing, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of local authorities which pay invoices within 10 days of receipt.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire (Mr. Knight) on 12 January 2009,  Official Report, column 242W.

Local Government: Carbon Emissions

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what financial penalties local authorities may incur in circumstances where they do not meet their carbon dioxide emissions reduction targets from 1 January 2010 onwards.

Iain Wright: If targets included in local area agreements (whether targets related to carbon emissions or otherwise) are not achieved in full it can result in a lower level of performance reward grant. My Department consulted on the operation of a new reward scheme for local areas in 2008, based upon local area agreements. This will be related to targets agreed by local authorities and their partners and our intention is to judge the amount of reward payable by reference to average performance across the targets agreed within the LAA. Responses to this consultation are being considered and an announcement will be made shortly.
	The Carbon Reduction Commitment is a mandatory cap and trade scheme designed to cover emissions from large business and public sector organisations which Government intends to bring in to operation in 2010. Large local authorities are expected to qualify for the scheme. There will be no targets for individual organisations in the scheme, but an overall cap will be applied to the sector. Revenue raised from CRC will be recycled back to participants. To incentivise improved energy efficiency, the revenues repaid to participants will be subject to a bonus or penalty related to their relative performance compared to other participants. In 2010-11 the maximum bonus or penalty of +/-10 per cent. rising to 50 per cent. in later years. However it is important to recognize that the net savings due to energy efficiency measures will outweigh any costs of the scheme.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she plans to reply to the letter of 25 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Belle Vue Vision.

Hazel Blears: I have now replied to my right hon. Friend's letter.

Optimisa

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 353W, on Optimisa, if she will place in the Library a copy of the reports by Andrew Irving Associates and its parent company Optimisa on  (a) eco-towns public attitudes,  (b) local government petitions and  (c) sustainable homes telephone survey.

Sadiq Khan: With regards to part  (a) eco-towns public attitudes, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint) to the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) on 8 October 2008,  Official  R eport, column 642W.
	The following reports will be placed in the Library:
	 (b) local government petitions
	 (c) sustainable homes telephone survey.

Public Bodies: Inspections

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which public bodies she expects to  (a) inspect and  (b) audit local authorities in 2009-10.

Sadiq Khan: From 1 April 2009 a new system of assessment and inspection will be introduced, the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). CAA will cover priority outcomes in local areas delivered by local authorities, either by themselves or with other service providers. As part of CAA there will continue to be scheduled programme of inspections for services for vulnerable children (looked-after children and safeguarding) and for youth offending, led by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation respectively.
	Other inspections under CAA will be primarily triggered by risk, and carried out by the relevant independent local services inspectorates, either individually or jointly. The inspectorates involved in carrying out CAA and associated inspections will be the Audit Commission, the new Care Quality Commission, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation, and Ofsted.
	The inspectorates are aiming to publish the final framework for the operation of CAA shortly.
	All audits of local authorities will continue to be carried out by external auditors appointed by the Audit Commission.

Travelling People: Caravan Sites

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what methodology her Department uses to determine whether an unauthorised Travellers' camp is  (a) tolerated and  (b) not tolerated in circumstances where the camp is on (i) the Travellers' own land and (ii) land not owned by the travellers and has been established without planning permission; what definition her Department uses of a (A) tolerated and (B) not tolerated unauthorised Travellers' camps; and who is responsible for determining whether such camps are tolerated.

Iain Wright: It is for the local authority or landowner to decide whether to tolerate an unauthorised site.
	For the purposes of the bi-annual count of Gypsy and Traveller caravans, we ask that local authorities count caravans:
	on unauthorised encampments as "tolerated" where the local authority or landowner has decided not to seek the removal of the encampment; and "not tolerated" where the local authority, police or landowner are using, or preparing to use powers to remove the encampment.
	on unauthorised developments as "tolerated" where the local authority has decided not to seek their removal (this includes those development with temporary planning permission); and "not tolerated" where a planning enforcement notice has been served, the results of a planning inquiry are pending, an injunction has been sought or where the compliance period has been extended.
	Advice on toleration is set out in DOE circular 18/94 'Gypsy Sites Policy and Unauthorised Camping', as amended, and 'Guidance on Managing Unauthorised Camping'.

Higher Education

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he plans to announce a timetable for the proposed review of higher education.

David Lammy: My right hon. Friend, Charles Clarke, the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, told the House on 8 January 2004 that there would be an independent review of tuition fees, reporting to the House, once we had evidence on the first three years of the variable fee regime. The first three years of operation will not be concluded until autumn next year.

Higher Education

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what progress is being made on his Department's University Challenge programme.

David Lammy: At the end of the New 'University Challenge' consultation we were delighted to receive 27 initial expressions of interest from across the country. These demonstrated a widespread recognition of the value of university centres to education, economic development, regeneration, and the cultural life of rural areas, towns and cities. HEFCE are currently preparing a policy document to guide formal applications. We expect to fund 20 new local higher education centres over the next six years.

Skills Levels

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what support his Department provides to businesses, community leaders and training providers for them to work together to raise skills levels in their local communities.

Si�n Simon: The Learning and Skills Council is working closely with businesses, colleges, community leaders and training providers to raise skill levels in local communities. FE colleges are playing a crucial role in bringing communities together. This includes providing ESOL courses, which underpin broader efforts to ensure community cohesion. The LSC is also working closely with local authorities through local area agreements and multi area agreements to ensure that skills provision is better aligned to local need. This local focus will be carried through to the Skills Funding Agency where local colleges and providers will work with the SFA and other key partners to respond quickly to the needs of local communities.

Further Education Colleges

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of capital funding for further education colleges; and if he will make a statement.

Si�n Simon: It is thanks to this Government's commitment to colleges that investment in capital projects will amount to 2.3 billion between 2007 and 2010. In total, since the programme began under this Government, nearly 700 projects, at 330 colleges have been agreed. Only 42 colleges have not yet benefited from investment. The programme has therefore been a huge success.
	In 1997 not a single penny was spent on FE colleges. With an NAO report saying FE buildings weren't fit to learn in. The Opposition has committed to cutting 610 million from the skills and universities budget; and has repeatedly refused to say whether they would continue our capital programme. Until they come clean about where their cuts would fall, every college should be worried.
	I want to make it clear today that there is no freeze in the capital programme. There is no question the 110 million brought forward for this year, and the 100 million for next year will be spent.

Economic Downturn

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what discussions he has had with higher education institutions and universities on assistance they can provide to people and businesses during the economic downturn; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: I have met with university vice-chancellors, representatives of university careers services and graduate recruiters to discuss the response of universities to the economic downturn. The recent publication Standing Together provides impressive evidence of universities helping business.
	I am particularly pleased that HEFCE is supporting universities to help individuals through the announcement of the 50 million Economic Challenge Investment Fund announced earlier this week. We are also helping graduates re-train by trebling the number of professional and career development loans. And working with major employers and the third sector to encourage internships and volunteering. Both of which provide valuable employability skills for young graduates.

Further Education: Capital Projects

Robert Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans his Department has for funding capital projects in further education.

Si�n Simon: Since 1997, this Government have invested 2.4 billion modernising further education colleges, and plans to invest a further 2.3 billion in the next three years.
	However, the pace of demand for capital funding has increased. In addition there are signs that the ability of colleges to raise their own funds for projects is being affected by the downturn.
	The Learning and Skills Council will therefore examine the position of individual projects by early March before making further funding decisions.

University Places

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many university places were available at the start of the academic year  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

David Lammy: There continues to be strong growth in student numbers. There were 1,505,000 students enrolled at higher education institutions at the beginning of 2007/08. UCAS suggests an increase of around 7.4 per cent. in English-domiciled applicants who have been accepted onto full-time undergraduate courses for 2008/09. We are providing full funding for 30,000 more places in 2009-10 than we did in 2007-08.

Further Education

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what work his Department is undertaking with the further education sector to provide training or retraining for those who become unemployed.

Si�n Simon: We are doing everything we can to help people through this tough time. Further Education is at the heart of our response. We are investing 4.5 billion to give employers and individuals the skills they need to improve their competitiveness now and in the future. We have recently announced:
	83 million to provide training for a further 75,000 people who have been unemployed for six months or more;
	158 million to support those looking for work;
	140 million expansion of 35,000 apprenticeship places;
	350 million improved flexibilities in Train to Gain for bite-sized courses for SMEs;
	A trebling of the number of Professional Career Development Loans available so that up to 45,000 learners a year can use loans as a way to finance reskilling; and
	Greater flexibility in how colleges and providers use their funding below Level 2.
	'FE Works', a good practice guide recently published by the Association of Colleges, provides further examples of ways the sector is responding to the economic downturn.

Employment-related Skills

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps he has taken to improve the employment-related skills levels of people with low skills.

Si�n Simon: This Government are committed to giving real help to people who want to improve their skills levels during this difficult time. Alongside existing programmes and training provision, we have announced new measures to provide employment-focused training for people facing or at risk of redundancy, as well as those who have been out of work for a longer period of time:
	158 million, comprising funding from Train to Gain and The European Social Fund, which will allow training providers to deliver a holistic service to support individuals facing redundancy and employers.
	83 million to provide 75,000 additional places in colleges and other training providers for people who have been out of work for more than six months.
	140 million to fund an additional 35,000 apprentices nationally in both the public and private sectors.

Graduates: Taxation

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will assess what effect the introduction of a graduate tax would have on university students.

David Lammy: We have no plans to assess the effect of introducing a graduate tax for repayment of financial support made to higher education students. A graduate tax was considered alongside variable and fixed fee options as part of the student finance review in 2002 and the White Paper 'The future of higher education' in 2003.
	A number of disadvantages were identified including: the cost of a graduate tax (which is greater than variable fees and loans), the lack of any mechanism for early additional repayments and the slower rate of repayment of a graduate tax when compared with loans.
	Government conclude that the Graduate Contribution Scheme based on variable fees of up to 3,000 set by higher education institutions presented the best option for both students and universities and this was subsequently enacted via the Higher Education Act in 2004.

Higher Education: Advertising

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many advertisements to attract students were placed by each university in each year since 1997; which universities placed such advertisements; how many were placed  (a) in print newspapers and magazines,  (b) on a website and  (c) on television and radio; and at what cost in each case.

David Lammy: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was formed in June 2007, following the Machinery of Government changes, since this date/and as a result we are only able to provide information from June 2007.
	The Department does not hold the information requested centrally and there would be a disproportionate cost to gather the information requested.

London Metropolitan University: Redundancy

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will make it his policy to minimise the number of redundancies at the London Metropolitan University; and if will make a statement.

David Lammy: London Metropolitan University is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. As such the Secretary of State has no powers to intervene in how London Metropolitan University chooses to operate its employment policies.

Research: Standards

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  what proportion of research projects commissioned by the research councils in each of the last five years are collaborations between different disciplines;
	(2)  what proportion of research commissioned by the research councils in each of the last five years is considered multi-disciplinary.

David Lammy: Research councils define multidisciplinary research as research that brings together knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines or established fields of study. The proportion of research supported by each council classified as multidisciplinary research is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Multidisciplinary research as a proportion of research funded,  ( approximate ) 
			  Percentage 
			  Research Council  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) 9 14 27 
			 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) 29 31 31 
			 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 44 40 41 
			 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 37 42 59 
			 Medical Research Council (MRC) 39 36 36 
			 Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) 42 47 39 
			 Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) 8 6 11 
			  Note: 1. Individual Councils use different ways of classifying multidisciplinary research and of collating relevant data. In addition, BBSRC, MRC, NERC and STFC also fund their own institutes and centres, which are intended to foster multidisciplinary research. Data on these is not included. 
		
	
	Equivalent data is not readily available for research funded prior to 2005-06.

Students: Children

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of  (a) full-time and  (b) part-time students attending higher education institutions with children under the age of three receive a childcare grant.

David Lammy: The Childcare Grant is available for full-time, higher education students with dependent children in registered or approved childcare; it is not available to part-time students. In academic year 2007-08 there were 3,700 students with at least one child under three who were receiving childcare grant. While information is available on students who receive a childcare grant, information is not held centrally which identifies students with children under three, who do not apply for a childcare grant. Therefore the proportion of students with children under three who receive a childcare grant is not known. Students receiving childcare grant make up around 1 per cent. of higher education students applying for some form of student finance support.

Animal Experiments: Vaccination

Nick Palmer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to ensure that the target animal batch safety testing of veterinary vaccines  (a) is not taking place under any existing licence and  (b) will not be permitted under any future licence unless an application for a waiver has been rejected by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate or the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate has identified a specific reason why an application cannot be made.

Meg Hillier: Under current arrangements, target animal batch safety testing of veterinary vaccines is authorised under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 in project licences covering a range of safety tests, rather than on a product by product basis.
	The obligation on a project licence holder to seek a waiver to the requirement for such tests would be triggered by project licence standard condition 6 which requires that the minimum number of animals of the lowest degree of neurophysiological sensitivity is used in procedures causing the least pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.
	The role of the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Inspectorate, which is aware of the technical requirements, is to advise on whether and what terms proposals for animal use should be authorised and to inspect to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the relevant project licence.

Departmental Catering

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) directly-operated and  (b) franchised catering outlets her Department and its agencies provides for staff.

Phil Woolas: On available information the Home Office has no directly operated or franchised catering outlets. Staff restaurants are provided by contract caterers.

Departmental Data Protection

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies have which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas; for which contracts this applies; in which countries the data for each contract is held; and how many people have their data stored overseas in the case of each such contract.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department inclusive of its agencies does not hold a central register of contracts which allow contractors to store personal data of UK citizens overseas. To extract and collate the information from individual records would incur a disproportionate cost.

Departmental Manpower

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the Answer of 18 June 2008,  Official Report, column 962W, on departmental personnel, what the current figure is for staff without posts in her Department and its agencies; how many of the staff without posts were classified as such on returning from maternity leave; and how many of the staff without posts have been classified as such for at least  (a) six months and  (b) 12 months.

Phil Woolas: The position as at 31 December 2008 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 1: Staff classified as being without a post as at 31 December 2008 
			   Staff classified as: 
			   Being without a post  on returning from maternity leave  Being without a post for up to six months  Being without a post for more than six months but less than 12 months  Being without a post for more than 12 months 
			 Home Office HQ 0 11 0 (1) 
			 UK Border Agency 0 17 7 (1) 
			 Identity and Passport Service 0 0 0 0 
			 Criminal Records Bureau 0 0 0 0 
			 Total 0 28 7 (1) 
			 (1) Less than 5. 
		
	
	The 39 members of staff classified as being without posts represents 0.15 per cent. of the total Home Office workforce.
	These staff are currently undertaking work for the Department while a new post is actively sought, either within the Home Office and its agencies, or in another Government Department.

Departmental Ministerial Policy Advisers

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many special advisers were employed in her Department at each pay band on 30 November 2008; and what her Department's total expenditure on special advisers was in 2007-08.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided by my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Byrne) on 15 January 2009,  Official Report, column 870W.

Departmental Procurement

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small and medium-sized businesses were paid within 10 days of receipt by  (a) her Department and  (b) the agencies for which her Department is responsible in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Home Department including United Kingdom Border Agency terms of payment was 26 days in 2006-07 and 2007-08 except in special circumstances, where an immediate payment was required. To provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
	However, following the PM's commitment of 8 October that central Government Departments will make payment within 10 days we will additionally report 10 day payment performance and are able to report on this.
	Both the Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau Agencies do not hold the required information for 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial years and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.
	Following the announcement on the 8 October both of these agencies are working towards paying SMEs within 10 days of receipt of invoices.

Domestic Violence: Research

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has evaluated on the link between cases of domestic violence and subsequent murders.

Jacqui Smith: The Home Office has not commissioned any specific research on this.
	The Home Office does routinely collect recorded crime information, via the Homicide Index, on the relationship of homicide victims to the principle suspect. The latest published information for 2007-08 can be found online on the Home Office website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs09/hosb0209.pdf

Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 1241-42W, on demonstrations: Parliament Square, when the Government's response to the Joint Committee on the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill's report, stated in the answer to be imminent, will be published.

Vernon Coaker: holding answer 20 January 2009
	The Ministry of Justice is co-ordinating the Government's response to the report of the Joint Committee on the draft Constitutional Renewal Bill. We continue to give careful consideration to the recommendations on protests around Parliament which are set out in the Joint Committee's report and a full response will be published ahead of the Constitutional Renewal Bill's introduction to Parliament.
	The Government are keen to give a substantial response to the Joint Committee but this has meant resolving all outstanding policy issues before the Bill is introduced. We recognise that there has been a long period since the publication of the report, but believe it is better to respond fully to the committee's recommendations on all aspects of the draft Bill. We intend to respond as early as possible in 2009.

Drugs: Hillingdon

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crack house closures there were in  (a) Uxbridge constituency and  (b) the London borough of Hillingdon in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 introduced the provision for police to serve a closure notice on any premises that is believed by the police to be used for the production, supply or use of Class A drugs, and which is causing serious nuisance or disorder.
	The Home Office collects data on the number of closure orders issued through the voluntary Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) survey of antisocial behaviour tools and powers. Latest available data from this survey cover the period from October 2003 to September 2007 and show that in the Hillingdon CDRP area no such orders were served in this period. Data is not collected at a parliamentary constituency level, although as the Uxbridge constituency is entirely within the Hillingdon CDRP area, there have also been no closure orders issued.
	Data for 2007-08 will be published early in 2009.

Entry Clearances: China

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applicants for visas from mainland China were refused visas in each of the last three years, broken down by category of refusal.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 27 January  2009
	The following table provides issue and refusal statistics per year for 2006, 2007 and 2008 broken down into categories for total applications received in Mainland China at our embassy in Beijing and the Consulate-Generals in Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou.
	
		
			  UK Border Agency  Applications from  m ainland China 
			   Endorsement  Applications  i ssued  Applications r efused  Percentage i ssued 
			 2006 EEA Family Permits 66 13 84 
			  Family Visit 16,664 1,332 93 
			  Other Non Settlement 1,787 185 91 
			  Other Visitor 95,815 5,938 94 
			  Settlement 1,259 204 86 
			  Student 21,149 2,578 89 
			  Transit 2,403 202 92 
			  Work permit 5,115 512 91 
			  Working Holiday Maker 11 5 69 
			  Total 144,269 10,969 93 
			  
			 2007 EEA Family Permits 87 18 83 
			  Family Visit 18,814 1,261 94 
			  Other Non Settlement 2,209 212 91 
			  Other Visitor 101,529 6,731 94 
			  Settlement 1,274 267 83 
			  Student 24,176 5,179 82 
			  Transit 1,903 148 93 
			  Work permit 4,519 411 92 
			  Working Holiday Maker 13 7 65 
			  Total 154,524 14,234 92 
			  
			 2008 EEA Family Permits 69 25 73 
			  Family Visit 18,946 1,737 92 
			  Other Non Settlement 4,269 388 92 
			  Other Visitor 81,520 5,663 94 
			  PBS Tier 1 357 196 65 
			  PBS Tier 2 0 0 0 
			  PBS Tier 5 0 0 0 
			  Settlement 1,295 264 83 
			  Student 28,274 9,159 76 
			  Transit 1,091 140 89 
			  Work permit 3,326 514 87 
			  Working Holiday Maker 11 4 73 
			  Total 139,158 18,090 88

Foreign Workers

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 706-07W, on foreign workers, if she will break down the figures by year, and indicate the percentage of the relevant workforce they constitute.

Phil Woolas: The following tables provide information on the number of work permits approved and Worker Registration Scheme certificates issued by occupation category. We are unable to provide an indication of the percentage of the relevant work force they constitute as data are not held on the size of each work force.
	
		
			  Work permit approvals for the period 1 January 2000-30 September 2008 
			  Occupation  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  Total 
			 Acupuncturist 10 25 35 40 25 40 20 20 20 230 
			 Assistant dentist 160 115 140 105 70 20 30 20 5 655 
			 Assistant optometrist 0 (1) (1) (1) 0 0 0 (1) 0 5 
			 Biomedical scientist 15 45 90 100 110 120 135 100 75 785 
			 Chiropodist/podiatrist 10 10 5 5 5 (1) (1) (1) (1) 45 
			 Chiropractor 55 40 15 25 25 25 25 25 10 245 
			 Dental anaesthetist (1) 10 15 5 5 5 5 (1) 0 45 
			 Dental nurse 0 20 40 40 40 100 60 45 40 380 
			 Dental surgeon 195 260 275 225 160 175 215 155 120 1,785 
			 Dietician 20 40 70 50 55 45 30 20 20 350 
			 Doctor 0 840 2,440 3,265 4,315 3,880 3,035 910 750 19,435 
			 Foundation programme doctor 0 0 0 0 0 0 355 220 130 705 
			 Hospital consultant 0 30 75 140 170 95 80 50 50 690 
			 Medical practitioner 580 940 605 410 205 95 55 35 55 2,975 
			 Midwife 90 90 95 100 85 85 70 90 65 780 
			 Nurse 15,040 24,265 28,640 29,490 29,095 22,580 13,615 8,520 7,060 178,305 
			 Occupational therapist 115 165 250 205 235 250 180 155 120 1,680 
			 Optician 90 120 105 90 90 75 80 45 30 735 
			 Other health/medical occupation 3,345 3,800 7,005 10,670 13,670 10,030 6,495 3,350 2,470 60,845 
			 Pharmacist 580 575 620 620 645 585 660 685 685 5,655 
			 Physiotherapist 195 325 425 440 460 410 305 245 130 2,935 
			 Psychiatrist 120 220 240 215 190 140 110 40 20 1,295 
			 Psychologist 55 45 65 65 45 40 30 20 10 375 
			 Radiographer 75 165 400 435 510 450 345 445 250 3,075 
			 Senior carer 0 0 0 0 0 1,870 5,690 2,250 2,660 12,465 
			 Senior house officer 0 0 0 0 0 0 640 345 55 1,045 
			 Social worker 185 380 640 940 1,050 945 785 570 450 5,955 
			 Specialist registrar 0 0 0 0 0 0 595 250 155 1,000 
			 Speech therapist 50 80 70 65 40 45 35 35 15 440 
			 Total 20,990 32,605 42,350 47,755 51,305 42,115 33,675 18,655 15,455 304,910 
			  Note: Work permit approvals includes all work permit application typesincluding work permit extensions, change of employment and technical changes to existing work permits and therefore does not equate to the number of individuals to whom permits were issued. The figures do not equate to the number of individual nationals because they include those applications approved to extend or amend an existing permit or where the individual has moved to another job with a different employer. Additionally, not all of those who are granted a permit take up the job, some may be refused entry clearance or further leave to remain. 
		
	
	
		
			  Worker Registration Scheme certificates granted for the period one May 2004-30 September 2008 
			  Occupation  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  Total 
			 Alternative/complementary medicine specialist 5 10 5 5 5 35 
			 Anaesthetist 30 65 35 15 25 170 
			 Care assistants and home carers 2,860 6,880 6,285 4,340 2,410 22,775 
			 Chiropodist 0 0 0 (1) 0 (1) 
			 Consultant, hospital 20 105 50 50 30 255 
			 Dental hygienist 15 30 10 15 5 80 
			 Dental nurse 85 130 110 65 35 420 
			 Dental practitioner 20 235 85 30 10 385 
			 Dietician (1) 0 0 (1) (1) 5 
			 Doctor (hospital) 60 230 250 205 120 860 
			 General practitioner 15 50 35 25 10 130 
			 Manager, care home 5 10 5 10 10 40 
			 Manager, health and social services 15 25 20 55 25 135 
			 Midwife (1) 5 (1) (1) (1) 5 
			 Nurse 35 125 120 90 60 425 
			 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants 135 145 150 75 65 570 
			 Optician 20 10 15 15 5 65 
			 Pharmacist/pharmacologist 40 135 210 220 130 730 
			 Physiologist (1) 5 5 5 0 10 
			 Physiotherapist 10 25 20 10 5 70 
			 Psychiatrist 5 15 25 5 5 45 
			 Psychologist 5 5 (1) (1) (1) 15 
			 Researcher (medical) 30 110 100 110 85 430 
			 Residential wardens and Houseparents 45 60 55 70 55 285 
			 Social Worker 55 145 115 50 25 390 
			 Surgeon 10 35 15 15 5 75 
			 Technician, medical 25 65 75 125 70 360 
			 Ward Sister 5 (1) 5 5 (1) 15 
			 Warden (care home) 15 15 20 10 10 65 
			 Total 3,560 8,660 7,820 5,620 3,200 28,855 
			 (1) Indicates one or two  Notes: 1. The figures are for initial applications only; they do not include multiple applications, where an individual is doing more than one job simultaneously nor re-registrations, where an individual has changed employers. 2. Data presented up to the same period as the current published Accession Monitoring report. 3. Figures are rounded to nearest five. 4. Because of rounding figures may not add up to totals shown. 
		
	
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. The occupational categories used are not compatible with the Standard Occupational Classification.

Genetics: Databases

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 7 May 2008,  Official Report, columns 994-96W, on genetics: databases, how many new profiles have been added to the national DNA database in each month since March 2008, broken down by police force; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: It is understood that this question refers to the number of crime scene sample profiles added to the National DNA Database, since a separate question has been asked on the number of people added in each month from 18 January 2008 to date.
	The number of crime scene samples added in each of the nine months from April 2008 to December 2008 for all police forces is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NDNADCrime scene profiles loaded by  force and by month April  to December 2008 
			  Force  April  May  June  July  August  September  October  November  December  Total  April to December 
			 Avon and Somerset 128 136 125 123 112 145 126 129 111 1,135 
			 Bedfordshire 29 52 35 60 56 61 49 43 40 425 
			 British Transport 64 42 44 44 34 39 57 30 37 391 
			 Cambridgeshire 46 53 52 55 51 63 56 48 63 487 
			 Cheshire 141 93 92 82 91 124 78 107 84 892 
			 City of London Police 5 6 8 6 4 6 0 4 2 41 
			 Cleveland 40 40 23 26 22 21 20 20 15 227 
			 Cumbria 40 22 45 30 35 19 33 28 28 280 
			 Derbyshire 73 63 81 49 54 41 66 57 36 520 
			 Devon and Cornwall 69 60 66 63 63 49 53 48 55 526 
			 Dorset 38 34 23 39 34 22 37 35 26 288 
			 Durham 43 45 36 32 33 39 29 41 48 346 
			 Dyfed-Powys / Haverford West 10 14 12 12 15 15 17 12 10 117 
			 Essex 89 104 97 86 101 88 91 70 78 804 
			 Gloucestershire 17 24 18 26 18 21 30 21 26 201 
			 Greater Manchester police 329 239 310 268 327 264 370 321 280 2,708 
			 Gwent 38 33 28 32 18 29 29 36 33 276 
			 Hampshire 115 98 146 111 109 101 112 72 79 943 
			 Hertfordshire 53 56 59 51 49 49 41 41 63 462 
			 Humberside 73 113 85 98 76 86 87 60 64 742 
			 Kent 242 184 186 239 223 231 224 166 187 1,882 
			 Lancashire 250 234 184 183 181 165 162 130 105 1,594 
			 Leicestershire 54 71 53 77 53 66 69 42 52 537 
			 Lincolnshire 47 42 33 38 33 33 34 26 30 316 
			 Merseyside 139 130 166 125 126 144 174 147 111 1,262 
			 Metropolitan police 566 480 531 585 464 562 477 449 438 4,552 
			 Norfolk 7 117 59 68 51 65 52 43 35 497 
			 North Wales 90 73 66 86 69 69 65 54 54 626 
			 North Yorkshire 30 25 35 25 27 24 25 22 19 232 
			 Northamptonshire 61 85 55 71 60 66 94 52 99 643 
			 Northumbria 95 138 112 146 109 141 144 152 107 1,144 
			 Nottinghamshire 68 75 41 47 64 58 40 52 61 506 
			 South Wales Constabulary 109 104 106 63 80 70 94 85 54 765 
			 South Yorkshire 94 131 79 105 90 88 85 88 73 833 
			 Staffordshire 105 87 87 67 79 101 81 94 70 771 
			 Suffolk 33 55 29 40 48 25 37 40 23 330 
			 Surrey 53 63 51 59 47 56 49 47 62 487 
			 Sussex 175 149 158 161 138 149 184 139 123 1,376 
			 Thames Valley 154 121 122 118 97 127 114 115 119 1,087 
			 Warwickshire Police 32 26 28 34 14 36 21 30 32 253 
			 West Mercia 99 64 97 78 84 89 76 54 55 696 
			 West Midlands 240 188 207 167 204 186 200 174 143 1,709 
			 West Yorkshire 201 204 194 168 142 186 164 136 115 1,510 
			 Wiltshire 40 37 45 29 26 19 24 31 26 277 
			 England and Wales Total 4,424 4,210 4,109 4,072 3,811 4,038 4,070 3,591 3,371 35,696 
			 Total other forces(1) 169 121 107 142 95 240 205 136 130 1,345 
			 Total all forces 4,593 4,331 4,216 4,214 3,906 4,278 4,275 3,727 3,501 37,041 
			 (1) Eight Scottish forces, PSNI, Jersey, Guernsey, Ministry of Defence Police etc.

Human Trafficking

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many individuals resident in Peterborough constituency have been  (a) arrested,  (b) charged with and  (c) found guilty of offences related to (i) trafficking persons to the UK for the purposes of sexual exploitation and (ii) running a brothel since May 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 27 January 2009
	The Home Office holds figures on crime by force area only and not by residence of offenders.
	Records from the UK Human Trafficking Centre show that since May 2005 there have been nine arrests for human trafficking in Cambridgeshire with one conviction for trafficking. Of the remaining eight cases four were not progressed and four convicted of other offences.
	Statistics from the CPS indicates that there have been a total of 48 people charged under sections 33 and 33 (a) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 since May 2005 in Cambridgeshire whose cases reached first hearing at a magistrates court. CPS does not have data held centrally on the number of convictions.

Identity Cards: Foreigners

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to use the receipts from foreign nationals from charges in respect of  (a) identity cards and  (b) registering biometric information to meet the cost to the public purse of the identity card scheme; and what estimate she has made of the amount of such receipts from foreign nationals in each of the next 10 years.

Jacqui Smith: The operational cost of the Identity Cards for Foreign Nationals scheme, including capturing and registering biometric information, will be fully recovered through the application fees.
	We review and set fees annually. We do not currently have estimates of fee income for each of the next 10 years as fees have not yet been set for future years. We will continue to set fees in a way which ensures those who benefit from the system make an appropriate contribution towards the end to end costs the immigration system.

Illegal Immigrants

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants have registered at reception centres in  (a) Liverpool and  (b) Croydon following detection as lorry stowaways in each month since January 2005.

Jacqui Smith: The UK Border Agency's National Operations Database (NOD) records the number of individuals arrested and referred to the Agency by the police broken down by office and not where the individual was discovered. The number of lorry stowaways arrested and referred to the UK Border Agency by the police since August 2005 to November 2008 broken down by office is as follows at Annex A.
	This information has only been recorded since August 2005.
	The figures provided do not constitute part of National Statistics as it is based on management information. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols and should be treated as provisional.
	
		
			  Annex A: Lorry stowaways arrested by the police and referred to the UK Border Agency: 2005-06 
			   2005  2006  
			  Local enforcement office  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec  Jan  Feb  Ma r  Total 
			 24hr Duty Office Manchester6 6 
			 Becket House London 6 9  7 3 2  7 34 
			 Bedford 13 16 10 17 4 10 22 8 100 
			 Bristol 3 7 3 8 10 20 5 11 67 
			 Cardiff 9 3 2  6 5 6 4 35 
			 Communications House London 12 3  1 5 1 1 1 24 
			 Croydon Enforcement Unit 10  2 7  3 2 3 27 
			 Dallas Court Manchester 1 2   1   1 5 
			 Dorset1 1 
			 East Midlands Enforcement 22 5 13 10 7 10 9 21 97 
			 Eaton House Middlesex 40 57 46 30 22 30 10 34 269 
			 Edinburgh  1  1   1  3 
			 Felixstowe   2 2  4 11 6 25 
			 Glasgow Enforcement Unit 21 2   5 
			 Humberside  1 1  1   5 8 
			 Leeds/Bradford  3 4 1  1  2 11 
			 Liverpool 11 1 9 2 14 5 5 13 60 
			 Mid Kent Enforcement Unit 16 2  2 3  5  28 
			 Midlands Enforcement Unit 6 17 19 10 7 3 8 4 74 
			 Norfolk Enforcement Office  2 1 1 3  3  10 
			 North Shields 1  1  24 
			 Plymouth  1 1  2 
			 Portsmouth 2 1 4 4 4 7 5 1 28 
			 South Yorkshire  1  1 1 1  1 5 
			 Southampton  1 1 5  11 5  23 
			 St. Ives 15 5 5 5 13 9 1 7 60 
			 Stansted Enforcement Unit 15 4 21 8 20 5 6 2 81 
			 Stoke  12 3  15 
			 Swansea  1   1 
			 Grand Total 184 154 148 122 127 130 105 138 1,108 
			  Note: These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.  Source:  Specific National Operations Database (NOD) Operational Activity Report (OAR) 
		
	
	
		
			  Lorry stowaways arrested by the police and referred to the UK Border Agency: 200 6 -0 7 
			   2006  2007  
			  Local enforcement office  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec  Jan  Feb  Ma r  Total 
			 24hr Duty Office Manchester 1 2 1 4 6 2 3 1 20 
			 Aberdeen  1   1 
			 Becket House London 3 2 5 1 2 5 4  27 9 3 7 68 
			 Bedford 10 2 12 1 1 3 11 4 7 21 26 16 114 
			 Boston  8 9  17 
			 Bristol 2 6 11   1 6 7 3 1  11 48 
			 Cardiff  4 4  8  1 2 2 3   24 
			 Communications House London 3  1 1 4 2 1  9 1   22 
			 Croydon Enforcement Unit   16  3 5 7 2  10 6  49 
			 Dallas Court Manchester  13  1 5 
			 Dorset   1  2 1 11   1   16 
			 East Midlands Enforcement 4 18 4  9 3 4 6 4 5 10 2 69 
			 Eaton House Middlesex 34 27 30 38 21 45 59 44 39 10 20 17 384 
			 Edinburgh1  1  2 4 
			 Felixstowe 8  9 1 7  6 39 43 
			 Grantham  14   14 
			 Humberside  3 11  5 
			 Kent Arrest Team 1   3 4 
			 Leeds/Bradford 7 9 4  20 
			 Lincoln 1 3   4 
			 Liverpool 4 7  1 1 1 1   5   20 
			 Mid Kent Enforcement Unit   8  2 3 3 4 20 
			 Midlands Enforcement Unit 14 19 10 7 7 7 18 8 5 6 1 34 136 
			 Norfolk Enforcement Office  4  3  2  1 10 
			 North Shields 1   2 2  2 1 8 
			 Plymouth1  1   2 
			 Portsmouth   8 3 5 6  1 3   2 28 
			 South Yorkshire 1   2   3  1  2  9 
			 Southampton 7  5  4 1   17 
			 St. Ives 8 14 23 6 11 9 8 14 5 2 12 4 116 
			 Stansted Enforcement Unit 9  16 13 7 4 19 6 12 7 8 13 114 
			 Stoke  11  2 4 
			 Swansea 1  2 4 7 
			 Teesside 1  3  5   1 10 
			 Grand Total 118 115 162 75 92 99 172 113 134 118 105 129 1,432 
			  Note: These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.  Source:  Specific Nod OAR report. 
		
	
	
		
			  Lorry stowaways arrested by the police and referred to the UK Border Agency: 2007-08 
			   2007  2008 
			  Local enforcement office  Apr  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Dec  Jan  Feb  Mar  Total 
			 24hr Duty Office, Manchester1  1  4 6 
			 Aberdeen 1 3   4 
			 ATLU, Anti Terrorist Liaison Unit  1   1 
			 Becket House London 8 10 6 6  2 5 4 3 3  4 51 
			 Bedford 11 16 7 4 17 27 21 43 17 47 37 31 278 
			 Boston 2  6 1 8  14 20 51 
			 Bristol 6 5 3 27 7 6 16 13 4 7  6 100 
			 Cardiff 12  2  4 2 2 1 23 
			 Communications House London 9  1 9  2 3 13  1  2 40 
			 Croydon Enforcement Unit  4  10 5 17 7 22 9 29 18 6 127 
			 Dallas Court Manchester  3   25 
			 Dorset 13 6   4 1 1 10 1   1 37 
			 ER Dover 36 28 81 141 188 170 236 137 1,017 
			 East Midlands Enforcement 15 14   3 8 10 29  20 17 9 125 
			 Eaton House Middlesex 4 33 54 46 15 62 51 84 31 60 23 18 481 
			 Edinburgh   1 1   2  4 
			 Felixstowe4  8 2  3 3  9 29 
			 Glasgow Enforcement Unit  3  6 9 
			 Humberside 1 2  1 1   2 29 
			 LCCG London Command Crime Group  1   1 
			 Leeds/Bradford 10 1 2 1 4  4 2 2 5 1  32 
			 Lincoln  1   1 
			 Liverpool  1 1  4 1 1 9  6 1 2 26 
			 Mid Kent Enforcement Unit 23 1  1  1   8 
			 Midlands Enforcement Unit 4 43 7 37 17 3 3 5 28 19 4 8 178 
			 Norfolk Enforcement Office   13 1 8 1 1 11 26 
			 North Shields1  4 3 3 2  2 9 24 
			 Plymouth  3   3 
			 Portsmouth 5 6 7 8 11 6 17 10 6 10  6 92 
			 South Yorkshire  5 1 1 2 3 4 4 4 3 9 2 38 
			 St. Ives 7 9  5 12  19 10 10 36 19 14 141 
			 Stansted Enforcement Unit 5 4 4 19 10 9 16 18 12 28 37 7 169 
			 Stoke 4 3 3 2 12 
			 Teesside   1  1  1 2 9 3   17 
			 Grand Total 115 162 103 179 156 194 269 429 353 464 426 315 3,165 
			  Note: These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.  Source:  Nod OAR Report 
		
	
	
		
			  Lorry stowaways arrested by the police and referred to the UK Border Agency: April to November 2008 
			  Local Enforcement Office  Ap r  May  Jun  Jul  Aug  Sept  Oct  Nov  Total 
			 24hr Duty Office, Manchester 3  6  9 
			 Becket House London  12 21 2 1 5 4 4 49 
			 Bedford 19 11 11 9 28 49 48 41 216 
			 Boston 15  8 9 17 19 3 15 86 
			 Bristol 1  5 6 1 7 1 21 42 
			 Cardiff 4   7  5 8 3 27 
			 Communications House London 2 8 12 4 17 
			 Croydon Enforcement Unit 22 4 28 14 19 12 17 11 127 
			 Dallas Court Manchester 1   1 2 
			 Dorset 1 4 1  17 5  2 30 
			 ER Dover 136 92 114 109 154 196 183 180 1,164 
			 East Midlands Enforcement 11 40 7 20 22 25 11 10 146 
			 Eaton House Middlesex 50 58 48 62 65 126 154 133 696 
			 Edinburgh  1   1 
			 Felixstowe 3 1 5 5 2 25 8  49 
			 Glasgow Enforcement Unit  1 5  6 
			 Humberside   2 3 5 
			 LCCG London Command Crime Group   1  1 
			 Leeds/Bradford 2 1  3 1  2  9 
			 Liverpool1 34 
			 Mid Kent Enforcement Unit   1  1 
			 M M Enforcement Team1 1 
			 Midlands Enforcement Unit  6 2 17 20 18 11 41 115 
			 Norfolk Enforcement Office   3 9 1  1 5 19 
			 North Shields  2 8 1 1 1 9  22 
			 Plymouth   1  1 
			 Portsmouth   10 9 15 9 20 1 64 
			 South Yorkshire 2 3 2 17 4 1 1 9 39 
			 St. Ives 30 9 26 30 7 49 20 14 185 
			 Stansted Enforcement Unit 12 10 28 19 10 13 31 26 149 
			 Stoke 11 74 2 9 33 
			 Teesside1 1 
			 Grand Total 322 270 331 350 391 569 549 534 3,316 
			 Note: These figures do not constitute part of National Statistics and should be treated as provisional.  Source:  Nod OAR Reports April to September 2008, October 2008 and November 2008.

Illegal Immigrants

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) analysis has been commissioned and  (b) research has been carried out by her Department on the likely number of illegal immigrants in the UK since her Department's online report 58/04, Sizing the Illegally Resident Population in the UK.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 22 January 2009
	No Government have ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case.
	Although it is impossible to determine accurately how many people are in the UK illegally, the Home Office published the report Sizing the unauthorised (illegal) migrant population in the United Kingdom in 2001 in 2005 as Home Office Online Report 29/05. This was a follow-on report from Online Report 58/04, Sizing the Illegally Resident Population in the UK.
	A copy of the report is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics Directorate website at:
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/rdsolr2905.pdf

Members: Correspondence

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 243517 on identity card verification at her Department's agencies, tabled on 9 December 2008.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 27 January 2009
	I replied to the hon. Member on 19 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1228-29W.

Members: Correspondence

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to answer question 243274, on identity card charges, tabled on 9 December 2008.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 27 January 2009
	I replied to the hon. Member on 19 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1228W.

Members: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 27 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, sent on behalf of Mojtaba Abedini (Home Office reference number A1161546, acknowledgement reference M22818/8).

Phil Woolas: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 26 January 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 25 November 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Tracy Betty Gororo.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 26 January 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 1 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. Abdul Awal Chowdhury.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 January 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 1 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Shazaib Tufail.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 January 2009.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to reply to the letter of 1 December 2008 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, with regard to Mr. Tariq Aziz.

Jacqui Smith: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 26 January 2009.

National Identity Card Scheme Strategic Suppliers Group

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 296-97W, on the National Identity Card Scheme Strategic Suppliers Group, how many of the eight shortlisted suppliers for the National Identity Card Scheme signed a non-disclosure agreement; and whether the provisions of the agreement signed by each were identical.

Meg Hillier: A condition of bidding for the Strategic Supplier Group framework was signature of a non-disclosure agreement in an unmodified form. All bidders complied with this condition.

Offensive Weapons

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) warnings were given,  (b) cautions were issued and  (c) prosecutions were brought for the illegal possession of knives in each year for which figures are available, broken down by police force area.

Alan Campbell: Data collected centrally on the number of offenders cautioned and the number of defendants proceeded against for the possession of an article with a blade or point, from 1997 to 2007 (the latest available), broken down by police force area, are given in the following tables. Offences involving knives specifically are not separately identifiable from this data.
	The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Information on the number of warnings given to offenders by the police are not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for the possession of an article with a blade or point( 1) , England and Wales, 1997 to 2007, broken down by police force area( 2, 3) 
			  Force  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset 61 94 135 101 147 190 187 167 155 214 200 
			 Bedfordshire 29 46 33 51 39 46 73 96 99 74 81 
			 Cambridgeshire 33 43 35 19 34 56 43 75 72 83 65 
			 Cheshire 68 73 65 64 47 64 60 57 87 101 121 
			 City of London 30 13 10 14 12 20 25 28 21 16 10 
			 Cleveland 30 42 38 24 53 103 107 103 85 90 109 
			 Cumbria 36 44 47 36 36 42 56 56 59 50 51 
			 Derbyshire 57 37 41 45 61 92 109 123 100 94 123 
			 Devon and Cornwall 72 107 99 105 90 145 161 161 167 138 171 
			 Dorset 23 47 37 45 48 73 63 75 76 81 78 
			 Durham 27 34 41 55 41 87 70 80 101 96 107 
			 Essex 101 116 137 136 136 141 222 264 273 217 182 
			 Gloucestershire 23 43 24 21 35 39 41 46 47 48 48 
			 Greater Manchester 250 276 240 260 344 357 362 383 391 441 436 
			 Hampshire 132 130 113 132 142 141 169 221 182 194 198 
			 Hertfordshire 36 37 31 29 31 59 103 103 127 105 78 
			 Humberside 60 64 80 65 61 81 79 121 123 135 170 
			 Kent 41 80 106 98 92 45 40 10 9 3 2 
			 Lancashire 136 165 122 109 131 127 159 188 182 169 176 
			 Leicestershire 63 88 74 65 83 96 107 110 105 140 135 
			 Lincolnshire 27 57 70 51 58 66 89 74 71 85 54 
			 Merseyside 234 204 148 166 155 192 208 245 240 253 250 
			 Metropolitan Police 1,705 1,721 1,454 1,572 2,128 2,459 2,179 2,104 2,113 2,099 1,810 
			 Norfolk 31 54 52 38 59 91 82 88 91 80 96 
			 North Yorkshire 47 39 52 54 64 65 63 89 80 70 62 
			 Northamptonshire 15 13 22 11 6 2 2 2 6 1 3 
			 Northumbria 134 125 151 161 193 226 243 232 241 246 318 
			 Nottinghamshire 55 67 59 59 75 90 123 144 151 176 184 
			 South Yorkshire 68 72 87 91 148 201 209 163 197 169 179 
			 Staffordshire(4) 36 57 52 (4)0 45 94 78 91 76 111 108 
			 Suffolk 37 24 32 34 36 74 72 79 84 123 97 
			 Surrey 21 19 23 34 41 31 45 50 38 47 65 
			 Sussex 90 82 112 110 136 153 154 135 139 165 165 
			 Thames Valley 91 107 103 82 101 127 116 159 192 227 165 
			 Warwickshire 24 33 31 19 21 29 21 32 30 38 32 
			 West Mercia 32 51 37 46 52 54 67 104 112 124 117 
			 West Midlands 244 227 197 280 417 450 449 465 386 469 485 
			 West Yorkshire 53 65 85 82 116 157 139 201 214 214 227 
			 Wiltshire 26 38 38 32 47 46 49 63 66 82 53 
			 Dyfed-Powys 27 32 38 40 48 53 47 51 54 39 51 
			 Gwent 35 25 25 28 25 36 35 61 45 74 77 
			 North Wales 56 67 64 51 63 96 70 78 85 131 101 
			 South Wales 93 130 126 110 126 167 152 175 147 187 164 
			 England and Wales 4,489 4,888 4,566 4,625 5,823 6,963 6,928 7,352 7,319 7,699 7,404 
			 (1) Includes the following offences and statutes: Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3). Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)). (2) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Staffordshire police force were only able to submit sample data for persons proceeded against and convicted in the magistrates courts for the year 2000. Although sufficient to estimate higher orders of data, these data are not robust enough at a detailed level and have been excluded from the table.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of offenders cautioned( 1)  for the possession of an article with a blade or point( 2) , England and Wales, 1997 to 2007, broken down by police force area( 3, 4) 
			  Force  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Avon and Somerset  3 12 12 17 41 39 88 79 157 147 
			 Bedfordshire 4 5 6 3 4 16 22 19 123 131 82 
			 Cambridgeshire  3 4 10 12 9 7 17 40 36 43 
			 Cheshire 10 16 11 12 20 11 18 18 19 19 14 
			 City of London 11 6 7 7 9 6 1 9 22 13 11 
			 Cleveland 2 2 2 1 4 4 14 15 19 32 43 
			 Cumbria 7 4 10 1 17 12 10 10 12 15 20 
			 Derbyshire 9 4 7 7 8 5 6 10 10 26 42 
			 Devon and Cornwall 67 52 56 52 50 65 44 95 100 82 81 
			 Dorset  11 1   2 7 9 6 15 36 
			 Durham 7 21 18 19 6 1 9 11 21 44 50 
			 Essex 39 53 54 42 51 45 57 27 32 54 17 
			 Gloucestershire  6 12 16 12 9 11 17 20 26 29 
			 Greater Manchester 66 99 66 88 115 114 123 127 150 166 168 
			 Hampshire 34 45 63 35 26 59 52 81 85 77 75 
			 Hertfordshire 4 10 5 9 16 20 21 33 32 42 64 
			 Humberside 10 15 17 9 10 9 3 10 44 50 52 
			 Kent 9 32 40 44 34 33 45 62 60 64 65 
			 Lancashire 31 44 24 12 38 21 33 67 84 91 74 
			 Leicestershire 7 8 8 7 6 4 14 20 34 56 46 
			 Lincolnshire 6 12 7 4 11 14 18 23 32 41 49 
			 Merseyside 103 67 56 46 40 50 48 99 91 62 113 
			 Metropolitan Police 939 1,024 773 778 497 492 388 493 569 710 750 
			 Norfolk  12 36 27 31 38 26 22 35 47 46 
			 North Yorkshire 7 9 12 17 16 18 18 20 25 24 20 
			 Northamptonshire 11 8 4 11 23 46 28 42 36 50 59 
			 Northumbria 50 64 48 51 70 82 92 69 81 119 93 
			 Nottinghamshire 8  3 21 35 34 45 45 65 108 91 
			 South Yorkshire 4 2 4 15 18 18 17 38 93 123 131 
			 Staffordshire  3 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 6 19 
			 Suffolk 9 11 9 8 15 14 12 16 18 26 31 
			 Surrey 6 8 7 7 19 18 15 29 26 34 47 
			 Sussex 34 63 55 80 110 115 136 282 478 248 218 
			 Thames Valley 20 11 26 37 24 35 38 59 94 115 117 
			 Warwickshire  8 8 7 7 5 7 15 18 28 13 
			 West Mercia 28 26 28 39 25 38 48 61 50 76 55 
			 West Midlands 9 104 77 95 105 132 95 130 178 229 199 
			 West Yorkshire  8 12 20 20 24 22 33 72 68 72 
			 Wiltshire 5 12 5 11 6 7 7 18 17 17 15 
			 Dyfed-Powys 17 25 30 32 36 60 72 47 70 73 53 
			 Gwent 7 1 2 2 1 9 9 2 19 31 36 
			 North Wales 18 34 22 27 36 45 45 59 67 50 47 
			 South Wales 31 25 15 36 51 24 21 25 25 22 27 
			 England and Wales 1,629 1,976 1,663 1,758 1,652 1,805 1,746 2,374 3,154 3,503 3,460 
			 (1) From 1 June 2000, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 came into force nationally and removed the use of cautions for persons under 18 and replaced them with reprimands and final warnings. These figures have been included in the totals. (2) Includes the following offences and statutes: Having an article with blade or point in public place. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139 as amended by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.3). Having an article with blade or point on school premises. (Criminal Justice Act 1988 S.139A (1)(5)(a) as added by Offensive Weapons Act 1996 S.4(1)). (3) The cautions statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for two or more offences at the same time, the principal offence is the more serious offence. (4) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source: Evidence and Analysis Unit, Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Parliamentary Unit

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many officials at each grade  (a) are employed and  (b) were employed in each of the last five years in her Department's Parliamentary Unit.

Phil Woolas: Numbers of officials employed at each grade in each of the last five years in my Department's Parliamentary Unit are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Year/Grade  Number 
			  2005( 1)  
			 G7 1 
			   
			  2004  
			 G7 1 
			 HEO 2 
			 EO 1 
			 AO 5 
			 Snr librarian (SEO equivalent) 1 
			 HEO 3 
			 EO 2 
			 AO 5 
			 Sandwich students (AA equivalent) 2 
			   
			  2006( 2)  
			 G7 1 
			 Snr librarian (SEO equivalent) 1 
			 HEO 3 
			 EO 2 
			 AO 6 
			 Sandwich students (AA equivalent) 2 
			   
			  2007( 3)  
			 G7 1 
			 Snr librarian (SEO equivalent) 1 
			 HEO 3 
			 EO 2 
			 AO 6 
			   
			  2008  
			 G7 1 
			 SEO 1 
			 HEO 1 
			 EO 1 
			 AO 3 
			 (1) Parliamentary team merged with briefing and delivery team. (2) Briefing and delivery element of teams responsibilities moved to another area of the Department during the year. (3) HEO post, EO post and two AO posts moved to Ministry of Justice under Machinery of Government changes.

Police: Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) first aid training and  (b) first aid training relating to diabetes is provided to police officers; how often police officers are required to complete first aid training; and which officer in each police force is responsible for ensuring that officers complete that training.

Vernon Coaker: First aid training is delivered as part of the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme (IPLDP), which is compulsory for all student police officers. The first aid module of IPLDP exceeds Health and Safety executive recommendations for an 'Appointed Persons' first aid course.
	Specific reference to diabetes (which may be mistaken for drunkenness) is covered in two sets of student notes that deal with legislation, policy and guidelines (LPGs). These are:
	LPG1.3.16 Drunkenness in a public place, and
	LPG1.5.10 Liquor licensing
	Both of these subject areas are mandatory for student officers and optional for police community support officers. Attention is drawn to the fact that a person who is drowsy and smells of alcohol may also be suffering from diabetes, epilepsy, head injury, drug intoxication, overdose or stroke.
	It is the responsibility of all police officers and staff to comply with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Code CCode Of Practice For The Detention, Treatment And Questioning Of Persons By Police Officers when dealing with casualties who are detained in police custody.

Police: Finance

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what  (a) expenditure on policing and  (b) her Department's resource budget allocation for police spending was in each year since 1997-98.

Jacqui Smith: Information on the provision for policing by central Government is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Expenditure on policing from 1997-98 to 2008-09 
			   million 
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Total police authority net revenue expenditure(1) 6,873 7,071 7,446 7,697 8,275 8,592 9,385 9,916 10,164 10,085 10,622 n/a 
			 Home Office police resource grants(2) 3,473 3,649 3,698 3,895 4,354 4,538 4,960 5,061 5,268 5,533 5,764 6,085 
			 Department of Communities and Local Government/Welsh Assembly government revenue support grant/national non-domestic rates 2,544 2,539 2,634 2,677 2,666 2,815 2,825 2,966 3,120 3,304 3,474 3,570 
			 (1) Source: Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (2) Police General Formula Grant and specific resource grants  Note: Year on year figures are not directly comparable due to changes over time in grant policy and recommended accounting practice.

Police: Personal Records

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance is issued to senior police officers on security and non-disclosure of their personal details.

Vernon Coaker: Senior police officers are advised, as with all police officers, to be aware of potential issues that could arise on the disclosure of their own personal information. This advice is given locally through their own Force Professional Standards or Information Assurance department. Problems with disclosure could include, but are not restricted to, an attack on either themselves or their family either by members of the criminal fraternity, terrorist organisations, or a member of the public.
	It is also the duty of the individual force and the Government to maintain protection of this data where it is seen to be a threat to the police officer, their family, other police officers or members of the public.

Pornography: Internet

Dan Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to prevent children and young people from accessing pornographic material made available through file sharing programs on the internet.

Alan Campbell: In April 2008 the Government launched a kitemark for filtering software developed by the Home Office and Ofcom and in partnership with BSI. This kitemark will be promoted by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety through the industry standards working group. The Government accepted all of the recommendations in the Byron review, 'Safer Children in a Digital World', which includes continued research and reviews on age verification to further prevent children accessing inappropriate material. This work will be taken forward by UKCCIS.

Terrorism

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the extent to which a person  (a) convicted of and  (b) suspected of terrorist offences in the United Kingdom have used (i) multiple and (ii) false identities.

Vernon Coaker: This information is not held centrally.
	Investigations into a person's identity at the time of arrest is an operational matter for the police.

Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

Terry Rooney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment has been made of the current level of backlog of work in the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service; and what estimate has been made of the number of staff hours required to deal with that backlog.

Beverley Hughes: At the end of December 2008, CAFCASS had a backlog of 414 public law cases and 1,979 private law reports. The size of backlogs is influenced by levels of demand which, in December, were unusually high for public law cases.
	CAFCASS attempts to allocate all care and supervision cases within two working days of receipt, and has achieved this on 73 per cent. of cases received between April and December 2008, against a key performance indicator of 65 per cent. for this financial year.
	CAFCASS aims to complete all cases within timescales agreed by local courts for filing all types of report and case analysis. CAFCASS do not have an estimate of the time necessary to deal with the backlogs as this depends on the circumstances of individual cases. CAFCASS is working with its statutory partners in the family justice system to keep all backlogs and delays to a minimum.

Children: Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2009,  Official Report, column 1701W, on children: protection, when Ministers plan to make their decision on intervention; and what steps he plans to take to publish that decision.

Beverley Hughes: The nature of the Department's intervention in Birmingham was communicated in a letter to the Leader of the Council on 29 January 2009. The letter has also been copied to local MPs.

Departmental Sick Leave

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much sickness absence there was among staff in his Department in  (a) 2007 and  (b) 2008.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department was set up as part of the machinery of government changes on 28 June 2007, so figures only apply from 1 July 2007. Sickness absence data for the Department since its inception, including the average number of days is published on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/

Departmental Supply Estimates

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the written ministerial statement of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 49WS, on departmental expenditure limit (2008-09), what the budget was for each of his Department's budgets under  (a) RfR1 and  (b) RfR2 (i) before and (ii) after the changes announced in the written ministerial statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Changes to budgets are set out in Part II (Changes proposed) of the DCSF Winter Supplementary Estimate which was published as part of HC 1163 'Central Government Supply Estimate 2008-09 Winter Supplementary Estimates' dated 25 November 2008.

Departmental Supply Estimates

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the written ministerial statement of 25 November 2008,  Official Report, column 49WS, on departmental expenditure limit (2008-09), which non-departmental public bodies have had their budgets increased as a result of the changes announced in the Statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Four non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) had their budgets increased as a result of changes announced in the written ministerial statement referred to: the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA); the National College for School Leadership (NCSL); the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDAS); and the Children's Commissioner. In addition the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) received a budget for the first time.

Economic and Monetary Union

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the answer of 30 June 2008,  Official Report, column 628W, on economic and monetary union, when the updating of his Department's euro changeover plan is expected to be completed.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Euro Changeover Plan will be revised by the end of 2009 to take account of DCSF changes in the delivery of corporate services during the year.

Offences Against Children

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families with reference to the statement of 20 November 2008,  Official Report, columns 372-74W, on safeguarding children, when he expects the further serious case review to be complete.

Beverley Hughes: The Chair of Haringey Local Safeguarding Children Board has been asked to submit the new Serious Case Review into the death of Baby P to Ofsted for evaluation by the end of February and to publish the executive summary by the end of March.

Parents: Hearing Impaired

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the number of deaf parents of children of school age.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Department does not collect this data centrally.
	We recognise the particular problems faced by disabled parents and our forthcoming parent survey will enable us to understand more fully the views of disabled parents. We have committed to providing guidance for schools and other settings on working with parents, which will include meeting the needs of deaf parents.

Schools: Energy

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that Building Schools for the Future schools which are required to display a Display Energy Certificate do so; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many schools in each region  (a) are required to display and  (b) display Display Energy Certificates; and what the energy consumption of each of those schools was in the latest period for which information is available;
	(3)  how many schools have incurred penalties for failure to  (a) display a Display Energy Certificate and  (b) obtain an associated advisory report; and how much has been imposed in such penalties;
	(4)  how many and what percentage of Building Schools for the Future programme schools were in each of the Display Energy Certificate energy efficiency bands A to G at the latest date for which information is available;
	(5)  what data his Department is gathering on the effect on carbon dioxide emissions of use of renewables technologies in Building Schools for the Future schools.

Jim Knight: The requirements to display a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) for an existing school and an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for a new school are legal requirements, for which the enforcement responsibility rests with Local Trading Standards Offices. We do not keep records of whether schools have incurred penalties for non-compliance or of penalties. The Department's contribution is to help schools comply. To that end, we have issued guidance on the Teachernet website for all schools on the requirement for DECs in schools(1). We have no plans for further action beyond this.
	The regulatory impact assessment produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government gives an estimate of the number of educational buildings in England that require a Display Energy Certificate(2) We do not know how many schools are displaying the certificates as required. The Department has published aggregated Benchmark National and Regional Statistics on Energy Consumption of Schools for 1999 to 2003(3).
	New schools built under Building Schools for the Future are required to have an Energy Performance Certificate rather than a Display Energy Certificate. Existing schools which are refurbished will have DECs. Both DECs and EPCs are recorded on a national register available at:
	www.ndepcregister.com
	To access the data the unique reference number of the certificate must be known. Schools can therefore access their data using their certificate number. Individual school energy data are kept confidential and Communities and Local Government only receive aggregated data from the register. There are no plans to publish individual school energy data although many local authorities and schools hold these data themselves. Communities and Local Government are developing a data handling strategy for the aggregate data which should be in place by April this year. From an existing extract of provisional data from 19 December 2008 we know that, at that date, 28 secondary schools and 64 primary schools had EPCs. The numbers of these schools in each of the efficiency bands is given in the following table. To put these figures into perspective the average non-domestic EPC rating is currently a 'C'.
	
		
			  Percentage of primary schools  Percentage of secondary schools  Asset rating efficiency band  Asset ratings 
			 1 2 A 0-25 
			 15 14 B 26-50 
			 10 1 C 51-75 
			 15 8 D 76-100 
			 13 1 E 101-125 
			 5 1 F 126-150 
			 5 1 G Over 150 
		
	
	We are asking Communities and Local Government for a similar data extract for Display Energy Certificates and will be able to supply the efficiency band percentage splits to the hon. Member in the next two weeks. We will be discussing how future reports of the percentage splits can be made public with CLG as part of the development of their strategy for DEC and EPC data.
	The data extract we have from CLG also lists the main heating fuel for all the schools. Where Biomass is the main heating fuel it is therefore listed. The three schools which have achieved 'A' ratings all have used biomass as the main heating fuel. This shows the impact that the use of biomass can have on the carbon rating of a school. No other renewables are identifiable on the data provided.
	The Department requires that newly constructed schools, including those within Building Schools for the Future, meet a carbon emissions reduction of 60 per cent. relative to the energy efficiency standards in 2002 building regulations. Additional funding has been provided for more than 200 schools in Building Schools for the Future and the academies programme to fund the implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures on school sites to enable this requirement to be met. We have developed a 'carbon calculator'a software toolwhich allows users to compare the likely effectiveness of various energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions, and to demonstrate how they would achieve the 60 per cent. reduction. We have received completed carbon calculators for 53 school projects which are currently in design(4).
	Partnerships for Schools monitors the compliance of the carbon ratings of school designs with government targets and in PFI schools ensures that the payment mechanism during the contract period (normally 25 years) reflects the DCSF policy on energy use. A low carbon rating may be due to energy efficient design or the employment of low and zero carbon fuels, including renewables.
	(1) Webpage on Display Energy Certificates and Monitoring School Energy Consumption
	http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/resourcesflnanceandbuilding/schoolbuildings/energyefficiency/certificates/
	(2) http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningand building/xls/324471.xls
	(3) Energy and Water Benchmarks for Maintained Schools in England 2002-03, from
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SBU/b000477/index.shtml
	(4) www.teachernet.gov.uk/carbontargets